In a speech not much covered by the protective mid-Valley media, New York’s junior Senator Kirsten Gillibrand touted casinos as an economic solution for Sullivan County. Here’s an excerpt from the Kingston Daily Freeman’s report:
Gillibrand told local business and community leaders on Friday that she supports the creation of Indian-run casinos in Sullivan County and said she has asked Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to reverse a decision handed down by the Bush administration that such casinos be forbidden on off-reservation land. "They serve as an economic generator for a region," said Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
Really, Kirsten?* Casinos tend to suck the life out of a community—by concentrating economic activity under their own roof, taking business away from locally-owned establishments on nearby main streets, destroying families by fostering addiction, and attracting only other bottom-feeders to the community.
Casinos don't want you spreading your money around town. They want you to stay at their own hotel, eat at their own restaurants, shop at their own gift shop, and leave the remainder of one’s disposable income (the part that should be spent on or saved for one’s kids) in their coffers.
And casinos also encourage a socially-destructive habit, much like the lottery does. As a commenter named “Markmyword” at the Freeman’s site succinctly put it:
Senator Gillibrand is obviously ill-informed when it comes to the effects of casinos on the community. What she also doesn’t seem to know is that the Turning Stone Casino in Verona has been operating illegally for many years. What she also disregards is the fact that casinos have a very negative impact on local business, family life and the environment. Casinos rely heavily on gambling addiction which results in a rise of crime. Lastle, the tribe that owns Foxwood Casino is on the brink of default and is trying to restructure $2.3 billion in debt. The debt is $1 billion more than the tribe can sustain, and it is at risk of defaulting on a $700 million line of credit with lenders. Does the Senator really want these kinds of problems for Sullivan County. If she likes casinos so much why not put them in Columbia County?
There are many other telling comments at the Freeman’s site. For example, “sallygee1220" writes:
Visit Oneida to see a dead village. The only thing that lives is the Turning Stone. Businesses have gone under! Daily bus loads of seniors who are seduced by free buffets, free tokens and something to do with their time arrive from Syracuse. The Catskills do not need this scene.
Meanwhile, Gillibrand managed to work against the speech’s goal of demonstrating her keen awareness of local issues by getting the location wrong of the Turning Stone casino. (It’s in Verona, not Rome, New York.) instead of in Verona. The Utica Observer-Dispatch notes that
[...] some local officials said the possible gaffe shows Gillibrand, appointed as senator by Gov. David Paterson a year ago and facing re-election this year, needs to spend more time in the Mohawk Valley. Some even said Gillibrand’s praise of the casino and its impact is misguided.
State Assemblyman David Townsend, R-Sylvan Beach, said Gillibrand should drive from Utica into Madison County and look at all the mom and pop stores and gas stations that have closed because they couldn’t compete with tax-exempt Nation enterprises.
According to Hank Gross’s Mid-Hudson News service, she also used this speech to suggest that the controversial proposals to drill the Marcellus shale for natural gas would be fine, if there are “environmental safeguards.” Uh-huh. Which safeguards would those be, exactly?
(Maybe Kirsten would be happier representing the people of Wasilla; I’ve been there, and it’s not unlike Greenport, actually.)
* NOTE: I call her Kirsten instead of Senator because I that’s how I knew her before she ran for office. She’s a perfectly nice person, at least when she’s not bashing immigrants. But not my favorite New York Democrat, not by a longshot. Just because she’s a member of one’s party, knows one’s first name and lives nearby isn’t reason enough to be blindly loyal, when she’s wrong on the issues. And yet that’s the attitude of many Hudson Valley Dems: She's ours, so she's beyond criticism.
