Help us change the odds, Beat the House

Many people have asked what we plan to accomplish with our Beat the House event on June 6 at a local casino, just outside of Philly. One of our goals is to counter the efforts of politicians and casino lobbyists who would have us believe slots parlors in Philly are a done deal.

Sometimes this simply means correcting sloppy language. For example, a recent Philadelphia Inquirer story erroneously described the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board’s vote to extend a slots license for SugarHouse as “clearing the way” for construction of a slots parlor on the Delaware riverfront.

In fact, the license extension came as no surprise to anyone familiar with PGCB, an entity created to rubber-stamp the state’s pro-casino agenda. Rather than clear the way, the vote merely underscored the importance of keeping state-sanctioned gambling out of our neighborhoods.

The lobbyists would have us believe that slots parlors will save us from higher taxes and soaring unemployment. And yet they know that slots would compound rather than solve our city’s problems by generating higher rates of crime, personal debt and family strife in our neighborhoods.

Beat the House will call attention to these facts and dash the myth that casinos would have a positive effect on nearby businesses. One need only look at the example of Atlantic City, where one-third of the city's retail businesses closed within just four years of the casinos' arrival.

A recent story in Forbes.com offers a fresh perspective on the forces we’re fighting. It notes that the casino industry, because of the distressed economy, is cutting back on employees and amenities and focusing on “the convenience gaming market.” In the vanguard of this trend are SugarHouse and Foxwoods, whose slots parlors in Philly would indeed be convenient to residents who might not otherwise develop the gambling habit.

But Beat the House is more than a facet of the campaign to keep predatory gambling out of Philly. It’s also:

• A wake-up call for citizens who are tired of ineffective leaders such as Mayor Michael Nutter, whose flip-flop on casinos and other major issues is documented in this month’s Philadelphia magazine.

• A call for the sort of campaign finance reform that will prevent the gambling industry and other powerful interests from convincing politicians to act against the interests of their constituents.

• A demonstration of how we can move from advocacy to action instead of passively accepting the rules that have barred most citizens from playing a part in public policy decisions.   

• A response to the drastic expansion of state-sponsored gambling, an ongoing threat to communities across the country.

Ultimately, Beat the House is about steering Philly in the right direction, toward constructive development plans that benefit all citizens rather than schemes that benefit only the wealthy and well connected. It’s an opportunity for all of us to play an active role in shaping a healthy future for a great city.

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