State legislators deliver death blow to Suffolk downs.

[Suff]

David F. D'Alessandro


He's nobody to most people out here. But In Boston he's the CEO of John Hancock. The same John Hancock that signed the Declaration of Independence. The Same John Hancock that was the President of the First Continetal Congress in 1774. The same John Hancock that's been headquartered in Boston since before the Civil war. Its as Old Boston an old Americana as this town gets.

And in Boston....When John Hancock Talks. People Listen.

This Editorial appeared in the Boston Globe Today. Also..today the State legislators voted down slots at Suffolk today. With the closing of Rockingham,, The Canceling of the 2003 Masscap. Thoroughbred racing in Massachusetts had its last rites given today. Its over.

Get ready for Drama out the Ying Yang when you read this. Mind you....Massachusetts has the Largest State Lottery in the nation. And we gamble More per Capitia than any State in the Union.


http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/105/oped/The_ugly_side_of_gambling+.shtml

[Tom]

I can't see why. The only facts from this article is that he is an ignorant liberal from a family of addicts and thieves.
That is some claim to greatness.
"My family had no self control and was weak and pitiful, so no one should be able to have the right to gamble. My father was a pathetic loser so you can't play slots.
He and his kind make me sick. A pox on him. Oh, there already is - his family.

[cj]

With some of the pathetic announcers out there, my friend Larry Collmus should have NO trouble landing a job! (Of course, I am biased in his favor!)

CJ

[Suff]

Collmus has done Monmouth and Meadowlands T-breds as a fill in already. I don't find him Particulary exciting...but I guess he is held in high regard within the Industry.

[cj]

He's full time at Monmouth...I doubt anyone would get too exciting calling Suffolk day after day :)

CJ

[justin]

What a moron. His story is sad but hardly representative of the average person who plays the races. Does he hold the same disdain for the stock market? How about the lottery? Bingo? What about other possible addictions. Let's outlaw alcohol, TV, video games, and anything else that can be addictive. Do it for the children! :>

[andicap]

Originally posted by Tom@HTR
I can't see why. The only facts from this article is that he is an ignorant liberal from a family of addicts and thieves.
That is some claim to greatness.
"My family had no self control and was weak and pitiful, so no one should be able to have the right to gamble. My father was a pathetic loser so you can't play slots.
He and his kind make me sick. A pox on him. Oh, there already is - his family.

How do you know he's a liberal?
My definition of a liberal is someone who doesn't want the government playing moralist. Liberals didn't start prohibition -- conservative moralists did. Many liberals support gambling and others -- for their own religious or moral reasons -- oppose it's spread.
A true liberal considers it his constitutional right ("the pursuit of happiness," remember) to do what he wants with his money.
This guy is a CEO of a major company, a profession that is hardly the hotbed of liberalism.

[JustRalph]

Please tax me -- not them, the addicts-to-be -- because it is their children who will pay the ultimate price.

He sounds like a liberal to me. He is asking to be taxed for the good of another. There is one problem with his hypothosis. The people like his father will find a way to gamble. It doesn't have to be state sanctioned or endorsed by anyone. They will find a game. They are junkies. Plain and simple. If you had two states side by side and one legalized heroin do you think that all the junkies in the other state would move. Nope...they would still find their fix in their home state. There will always be a game. Somewhere.........the state just decides who gets to profit. The prohibition analogy works. Look what happen when alcohol was outlawed. The business went underground and the gangsters got rich. The business went back legit and all they did was funnel the money from the bootleggers to the state via taxes. That my boys is how nascar was born. :cool:

[Suff]

He did try and get Boston's Mayor to endorse the Republican Mitt Romney for Governer. I think he is a republican to be honest.

But I did pick this up from the "Citizens for limited Taxaxtion" Web site.


In his Boston Globe business column of Feb. 8 ("Memo to Beacon Hill"), Steve Bailey quoted the chief executive of John Hancock Financial Services: "'I feel really strongly about delaying the tax cut,' D'Alessandro says. 'If we don't do something, the economy will lag even longer. ... The governor can get re-elected by raising taxes because all the Democrats are going to have to agree. Therefore no one should worry about getting elected or getting re-elected because of the tax freeze.' The effect of higher income rates on business: 'It won't cut Hancock's business.'"

We pointed out that John Hancock Financial Services, Inc. was represented on the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation's executive committee and board of trustees.

The Boston Herald today reports ("Hancock's chief collects $8.1M: Pay rises as bonus shrinks"): "David F. D'Alessandro, chairman and chief executive of John Hancock Financial Services Inc., saw his compensation more than double last year to total $8.1 million in salary, bonus and incentive awards, compared with $3.9 million in 2000, the company reported in a regulatory filing yesterday."

Do you suppose David would miss his tax rollback as much as you?

This is an example of who the "nonpartisan" MTF represents

[penguinfan]

Average credit card debt per household in this country is over $6000.00 and since financial problems are the number 1 cause of divorce I say credit cards should be out-lawed immediately. Lending institutions will gladly lend you more money that you will ever be able to pay back, that's more of a crime than gambling.

I am also of the opinion that if you are weak minded and susceptable to such addiction then you will find an outlet to ruin yourself, be it gambling or drinking or what have you. My wifes father had a gambling problem when she was younger and she has stories like the guy in that link, guess what, he is basically an A-Hole in every other part of his life as well, go figure, I guess a deck of cards is responsible for that as well....

Penguinfan

[Suff]

I personnally don't think having a Gambling Problem automatically makes you a weak person at all.

Being 42 years old....and having grown up in the inner city. I have lost count of the number of friends that have died from drug overdoses. I lost One friend and two very friendly co-workers (guys I knew for years) to Heroin in the last 18 months alone.

Some of these guys were the toughest SOB's that ever walked this planet. Most were some of the nicest human beings that I had ever come across.

I thinks its a mystery who gets what and why. Ten years ago I lost a girl friend to renal cell Carcinoma. A bone cancer that 95% of the people that get it are over 65. She was 26.

Why some people can Gamble for entertainment and some can't is a mystery....to me. I'm really averse to labeling anyone weak. Besides...we're Human Beings...we all have our weakness's.


Isn't it somewhat perception and definition anyway.

A guy once told me...."Listen to any love song"

"I'd die without you"

"I can't live without you"

"Your everything to me"

"I want to spend every Minute with you"

"I will follow you anywhere"

He said....any Psychiatrist would call that "Co-dependency"

and any Judge would call it ...................."Stalking"

Someone else calls it "Love"

Who Knows? I don't.