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Cahill’s Slot Machine Plan Under Fire        (1 of 2)

Massachusetts State Treasurer Timothy P. Cahill laid out his plan to bring slot machines to the Bay State in a scaled-back fashion on Wednesday, leading to concerns that his proposal was unrealistic. Legislators in Massachusetts are keen to reap the economic benefits of expanded legalized gambling, but the details of how such a plan would take place are what’s delaying such a measure from being enacted. Governor Deval Patrick is a proponent of erecting enormous casino resorts with plenty of amenities to attract tourists from far and wide, but Cahill favors a quick and dirty alternative that would have the gaming terminals installed in huge warehouse facilities as quickly as the end of the year.

Unfortunately, critics are grousing that Cahill’s plan is not all that it’s cracked up to be! One of the biggest selling points of the Treasurer’s slot machine bill is the two to three billion dollars in one-time slot game licensing fees that Cahill believes the state could count on almost immediately if his plan were approved. Experts have countered that claim, saying that the amount is inflated and unrealistic given the current state of the economy, meaning that Cahill relied on outdated economic figures to arrive at that amount.

The Boston Globe reported that there was “an underlying flaw” in Cahill’s grand scheme, which he has been boasting is nothing short of an economic recovery package for the state. That quibble is Cahill’s allegation that every slot machine installed in the three locations outlined in his bill would generate income of two hundred seventy-five dollars a day.

Continue to part 2 here.

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