Letter: RI Relies Too Much on Gambling Revenue; I'm Voting No on Q's 1 and 2

To the editor:

I have never seen Newport so divided over an election issue. Personally, I was apathetic regarding the slot parlor that has sat there for years, next to the dump where it belongs. It seems every other year this facility has its hand out, begging for more help. When Jai Alai was failing, it was, “Hey, how bout a few slots?”. Then it was more slots. Then table games. Now table games again and again and again. Joey Paolino makes lots of empty promises and he won’t get my vote until he starts giving away ponies.

I don’t have an ideological opposition to gambling, in principal. However, for me this issue is not about jobs or morality or anything else other than the continuing corruption in this state that Rhode Islanders don’t deserve. The “wisdom” of our representatives to descend deeper into the depths of gambling depression is financially irresponsible and condemns RI to the moldy cellar of economic promise. And we belong there because we are too sound asleep at the wheel to be mad as hell and determined not to take it any more. The only redress for this perpetual crime against the public trust is at the ballot box.

I’m voting NO on Questions #1 and 2 because of the way this whole thing has been handled by Paolino, the unsavory one and the other guy that approves of their messages. This whole deal is underhanded and here is my little piece on why I feel this way. If what I’m saying resonates with you, forward this to your friends, especially those that are on the fence. They are welcome to disagree, but perhaps it will prompt them to think about this farce in a different way. I’d like to know why we are so comfortable with corruption and special interest largess granted by a gluttonous General Assembly that needs a wakeup call. Sorry if people lose their jobs. If that happens, it won’t be because of me. It will be the result of working in a decaying business that hasn’t been improved and is losing money precipitously. Why should the state save a failing business like this? And let’s not kid ourselves that this is “private” $$$. Even Paolino is smart enough to realize that his business risk is ZERO as a result of the state’s reliance on gambling revenue due to decades of irresponsible governance and dysfunction. Gambling in RI is too big to fail. Then come the bailouts. Then people grumble and go back to sleep. Good morning, General Assembly. Let’s show them a new day and say NO TO CASINOS yet AGAIN.

Rhode Island’s Inside Casino Game

The issue of another vote on casino gambling is a problem for all Rhode Islander’s due to the state’s severe gambling addiction that now requires an intervention. If you are tired of the suspect inner workings of state politics, then it is imperative that we reject casino gambling in Newport yet another time. Rhode Island is the most dependent state on gambling revenue in New England. Our economic quagmire is perpetuated by cronyism embedded within the General Assembly “culture”. Rather than address structural impediments to economic vigor that assure Rhode Island’s place at the very bottom of numerous economic indicators, the General Assembly prefers the regressive taxation and economic toxicity that reliance on gambling generates.

In this state, the inside game works something like this. Private interests with sufficient cash can afford to lease the services of a retired RI Supreme Court justice who will gladly design an end run around Newport’s constitutional assurance. Once the check clears, all sorts of Philadelphia lawyering takes place parsing constitutional language for the benefit of a deep pockets client. From the former justice’s desk, the scheme moves to the inner sanctum of the State House in the middle of the night and is passed without regard to Newport’s previously guaranteed interest. This subterfuge is welcomed by a legislature whose patron saint could be former Speaker of the House Gordon Fox, who disappeared into thin air courtesy of the FBI and the RI State Police not long ago. If you are sick and tired of the General Assembly’s self-interested and traditional cronyism, then you should reject the casino question and demand that our legislators serve the state’s economic interests more responsibly.

It’s ironic that Justice Flanders’ legislative strategy developed for Paolino’s casino group incorporates a supposed constitutional assurance that casinos in Newport will be limited to the current site of a rapidly decaying business. Justice Flanders is clever in the sense that he has the outsized confidence to provide a constitutional amendment that is built upon ignoring a previous amendment requiring a separate local ballot. And they wonder why we are cynical. Given this willingness to “interpret” the law for a fee in a manner that ignores a city’s constitutional rights, I’d like to know why should we trust these people.

Gambling in this state is too big to fail as this is a revenue source that RI cannot afford to lose and they don’t have the guts to let it fail because that would require them to either raise taxes, reduce spending or both. They are too chickenshit to do that, so they expand gambling. Are there stuffed manilla envelopes flying around Smith Hill? I don’t know, but would it surprise you? Lots of cash in the casino business. The General Assembly is full of cowardly types. They can’t let Newport Grand fail because it would fully expose their foolish economic policy of relying on the unstable revenue of gambling made more punishing to budgetary health during a severe economic downturn. Only in RI could it be considered a good idea to double down on gambling at a time when so many other casinos are failing and with serious competition potentially on the way. The state is in too deep to allow Newport Grand to close, regardless of the way it has been allowed to deteriorate during a severe downturn in a seedy and predatory industry that drains money out of the broader multiplier economy. This keeps the poor poor and discourages a lazy General Assembly from actually engaging in meaningful governance that would address the structural abyss that has been created from decades of special interest favors granted by what’s in it for me politicians.

If you are tired of dysfunctional politicians, too big to fail, bailouts and deals gone bad like 38 Studios, reject Questions #1 and 2 for the love of Newport.

Toni Caputi