Legislators Try New Tricks to Stop Philadelphia Casino
Tuesday December 30, 2008
You have to be kidding! You need to read the brief article today on Philly.com by Jeff Shields entitled "Legislators say SugarHouse missed its deadline."
In short it explains how a group of Philadelphia state legislators who, by the way, oppose the construction of the SugarHouse Casino in Fishtown/Northern Liberties have now asked that the state take back the casino's gambling license for failure to build within the prescribed length of time.
Am I the only one who thinks that this is insane? These same men, along with local residents and officials of the new Nutter administration, have done everything in their power to prevent and discourage SugarHouse from building at the location granted to them by the Gaming Control Board.
For those of us who live outside of Philadelphia, the holdup on construction of the city's two casinos is costing us money every day. Those two casinos would go a long way to give Pennsylvania residents a larger property tax break. The delays are also costing city residents as well. With a poor economy, high unemployment and the city's projected $1 billion deficit, the two city casinos will pump much needed money into the economy. The wage tax alone that the city would net from workers during construction and later from the casino employees can only help the city's deficit problem.
I continue to be baffled by city residents who believe that having a casino within a few blocks of their homes will bring disaster to their neighborhoods. This hasn't been shown to have happened anywhere else where casinos have been built in Pennsylvania. I live five minutes from Harrah's Chester Casino. I have heard no complaints whatsoever.
For these legislators to attempt to revoke SugarHouse's license for failure to start construction when they have done everything to prevent just that is disgraceful. Millions of Pennsylvania homeowners stand to gain from the revenue generated by these casinos. It's time that they were built.
In short it explains how a group of Philadelphia state legislators who, by the way, oppose the construction of the SugarHouse Casino in Fishtown/Northern Liberties have now asked that the state take back the casino's gambling license for failure to build within the prescribed length of time.
Am I the only one who thinks that this is insane? These same men, along with local residents and officials of the new Nutter administration, have done everything in their power to prevent and discourage SugarHouse from building at the location granted to them by the Gaming Control Board.
For those of us who live outside of Philadelphia, the holdup on construction of the city's two casinos is costing us money every day. Those two casinos would go a long way to give Pennsylvania residents a larger property tax break. The delays are also costing city residents as well. With a poor economy, high unemployment and the city's projected $1 billion deficit, the two city casinos will pump much needed money into the economy. The wage tax alone that the city would net from workers during construction and later from the casino employees can only help the city's deficit problem.
I continue to be baffled by city residents who believe that having a casino within a few blocks of their homes will bring disaster to their neighborhoods. This hasn't been shown to have happened anywhere else where casinos have been built in Pennsylvania. I live five minutes from Harrah's Chester Casino. I have heard no complaints whatsoever.
For these legislators to attempt to revoke SugarHouse's license for failure to start construction when they have done everything to prevent just that is disgraceful. Millions of Pennsylvania homeowners stand to gain from the revenue generated by these casinos. It's time that they were built.
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