CONFRONTING THE SCHOOLYARD BULLY

I backed and voted for County Executive Isiah Leggett,   However, his gutless stand on slots has raised the ire of many of us.  The suggestion of one delegate who attended his July 20th closed  meeting of Montgomery County lawmakers, that “they leave their morals at the door” caused a number of attendees to leave early.

Leggett’s rationale is that if county-elected  officials (elected by us, that is) keep quiet about slots,  the County might not lose state money – which is controlled by Senate President Mike Miller.  And by quelling opposition from Montgomery County delegates, Gov. O’Malley, who already caved in to Senator Miller and is lending support for slots, gains the power to pressure other jurisdictions to also be silent.

The mantra that’s been accepted by those politicians who have caved or are getting ready to, is “everything’s on the table.”  They don’t seem to grasp the impact of the gaming industry once these interests get their foot in the door.  Money rains down to delegates and senators, and it becomes hard to say no to anything the industry wants.  Once slots are allowed at  race tracks, there’s pressure to establish gaming parlors elsewhere.  National Harbor is a natural for slots and parlors as is City Place here in Silver Spring.

All the studies conducted show the relationship between slots and a rise in crime as well as domestic violence.  And there’s little question that it’s basically a regressive tax on the poor and working class.  It is also tragic to think that our elected officials cannot be more creative in finding ways to raise or redirect resources and instead resort to an insidious, culturally damaging vehicle instead.

There's also the issue of the type of future development we want in our state.  Does Maryland really have to resort to a low-road of casinos and gambling and organized crime?  Maryland has much more to build on than that.  Consider the science and medical centers at NIH, Johns Hopkins, FDA and University of Maryland as well as high tech industries sprouting up in the I-270 corridor?  Or the high quality public schools in much of our state.  Shouldn't we be focusing on using these resources to plan a higher quality of development?

If Miller gets his way, O’Malley has to be made to realize that it’s been due to a vacuum of leadership on his part.  And schoolyard bully that Miller  is, there’s going to be a perception that our Governor is handing over his lunch money to that bully.  (And that should wipe away any aspirations O’Malley may have of being Hillary Clinton’s VP).

The problem is, it’s our money and the decision to cave in to slots is being made without consulting the public.  Slots offer nothing culturally, socially or otherwise helpful to us – they do the opposite – stripping away values of community involvement and a focus on supporting families.   Studies show the desperation of people who are willing to gamble their rent, mortgage; food and medicine funds on the remote possibility of “winning”.  Slots are a social eyesore, there is nothing pretty about slots.  Additionally, when all of us, including our government ought to be energy conscious, slots use an excessive amount of energy for lighting, air conditioning, the equipment and slots themselves, as well as the accompanying alcohol consumption that often has negative consequences.  And, slots, if it were passed into law, provides no immediate relief to our budget shortfall. .

Many of us in Montgomery County and Price George’s Counties would like to examine other income raising solutions – like a progressive income tax or closing more corporate loopholes, get rid of government waste, etc.  But, there’s been no public debate on the issue.

What we have is Miller, whose palms have been greased for many years by gaming interests, restaurants, the liquor industry, the thoroughbred breeders, vending machine industry, construction companies, the hotel industry, law firm lobbyists – approximately $100,000 in donated cash given to Mike Miller’s campaign committees from the gaming and hospitality sector – to re-elect a seemingly unbeatable candidate who takes that money and contributes it to candidates who will do his bidding.

I’ve included a list of those interests.  None are individual residents.  They’re all corporations and hired gun law firms and paid lobbyists.  None are individual voters or taxpayers – there's no  one of us on the list.  .  So when O’Malley and Leggett cave in to those interests and when  Council Chair Marilyn Praisner will not entertain any motion in the County Council in opposition to slots – or when Tom Perez calls slots a reasonable answer to state financial problems –  and if the State Democratic Party is complicit - we have to hold them all accountable for opening the door to these special interests.

We, you and I, have to encourage our delegates, senators and council members to hold public meetings on slots.  There has to be public debate and discourse.

We are a strong and powerful County.  Probably the most powerful in the state.  Comptroller Peter Franchot (one of the strongest opponent of slots) and Doug Gansler are in pivotal positions of state leadership.  We are a driving economic force and contribute a lot of funds to state coffers.

State Senator Jamie Raskin has this to say about slots:

“Maryland needs an honest debate on the issue of slots, the kind of debate that we didn’t get before the General Assembly passed electricity deregulation and everyone ended up with huge increases in their utility bills.  I am afraid that, during a time of serious budget problems, we are being sold the Emerald City with streets paved with gold flowing out of the slot machines.  We should not do something that we may regret over the long term just because it seems to suit a short-term need.  I am opposed to a casino economy where a few winners get rich, lots and lots of people go broke, and everyone else works to support the house, which depends primarily working o people primarily working minimum service jobs.   So I’m skeptical of slots, which seem to be an efficient technology of wealth redistribution from working and middle-class people to big gambling interests and (only secondarily) the state.  I am definitely sensitive to the argument that our gamblers are presently going to Delaware or West Virginia to spend their money, but are we going to reinforce and deepen their problems by setting up slots here?  Are we going to aggressively market our slots venues locally and then create new gamblers in our state and all of the problems that accompany gambling addiction?  Even if we wanted to, we’re never going to be Las Vegas or Atlantic City  since so many states have already gone down this illusory road, so this means we will mainly be preying on our own population.  I don’t know the answers, but I do have a whole lot of questions about what this does to our way of life and our politics.  I haven’t met a single person in my district who wants slot machine gambling in Silver Spring or Takoma Park, so the advocates are going to have to show me some pretty compelling evidence of why it would actually be a good thing for other parts of the state and a fiscally necessary thing for Maryland.  I want some hard answers because public policy should not be based on just making a wish and spinning a roulette wheel.”        

Note:  Progressive Neighbors will be holding a special meeting to discuss progressive solutions to the state budget crisis on Friday evening Sept. 28th.  The group is proposing making the state income tax progressive and the closing of corporate loopholes and is opposing the introduction of slots and casinos in Maryland.  For further information, visit their website www.progressiveneighborsmd.org or call 301-587-5559.

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