Bully-boy DeLeo

Globe Editorial

DeLeo’s stubbornness puts
 fellow Democrats in a bind

August 3, 2010

 HOUSE SPEAKER Robert DeLeo’s decision to put the needs of the state’s racetracks ahead of all other interests is a staggering example of why voters worry about legislative excesses. His stubbornness has hurt his party and put a governor of his own party in a terrible bind. Thus, it’s a relief that Governor Patrick is standing up forcefully to the speaker, and he must continue to do so.









Gov. Patrick rescinds compromise offer on casinos

For DeLeo, much riding on battle over casino bill

Editorial:
 Stubbornness of DeLeo puts Dems in bind


DeLeo has tried to corner Patrick into approving a gambling bill that allows slot-machine parlors at racetracks, insisting in a statement that a veto would “ "kill the prospects of 15,000 new jobs’’ and money for local aid. But it’s the speaker’s own intransigence that has put at risk the benefits that a more targeted bill could create. Patrick supports the licensing of three resort casinos, which would represent an enormous expansion of gambling in Massachusetts. But DeLeo has deep personal and political connections to the racing industry; his father worked in it, and it’s a major presence in his district. And the speaker was unyielding in demanding that racetrack owners be given special consideration in the gambling bill.

How he got his way wasn’t pretty; progress on a host of unrelated issues stalled for weeks until Senate gambling negotiators knuckled under. Tellingly, DeLeo’s negotiators didn’t bite on proposals to create one or two slots licenses that would be awarded under an open bidding process. In the end, the conference committee agreed to offer two slots licenses to the state’s four tracks. But this was hardly a concession; since the owners of two of the state’s four tracks — Suffolk Downs and Wonderland — are widely expected to seek a casino license, the provision likely means that the Plainridge track in Plainville and the Raynham Park dog track in Raynham would get a clear shot at slots licenses, and all the track owners would come away happy.

The favor to Raynham Park particularly defies logic. Across the country, track owners have insisted that they need slot machine revenue to shore up a declining racing industry. But now that Massachusetts voters have banned dog racing, there’s no real industry to shore up. Track employees who are losing their jobs deserve new opportunities, but help can take a variety of forms — and no-bid gambling licenses for track owners shouldn’t be one of them.

State Senate President Therese Murray, who opposed racetrack slots before compromising in the end, has urged Patrick to sign the resulting bill, and has pointed to a provision that may allow him to block racinos via a new gambling commission that Patrick would help appoint. But this is no solution at all. Because the commission doesn’t even exist yet, citizens have no reason to trust its decision-making. The eventual shape of the gambling industry in Massachusetts will have profound implications for the state, and the state’s elected leadership needs to be accountable for the outcome.

On most issues, DeLeo’s leadership style has been more open and less iron-fisted than that of three recent predecessors, all of whom have been brought up on criminal charges. (Those against DeLeo’s immediate predecessor, Salvatore DiMasi, are still pending.) Yet their troubles highlight the vast amount of power concentrated within the speaker’s office — and the need for speakers to deploy it with exceeding care. DeLeo is entitled to feel a sense of kinship with the racing industry. But to put its needs above all others is an abuse of his authority.

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Whichever side of the Gaming Bill you support, one thing is for certain. For far too long the position of House Speaker in the Massachusetts legislature has been too powerful and entirely subject to the character of the person residing in that office. The very fact that many of the occupants of the office have left under criminal investigation and eventual guilty findings says all that need be said for an institution we all depend upon for the laws which rule our state.

Just looking at the last two Speakers prior to current Speaker Robert DeLeo, Finnegan, found guilty of crime while in office, and DeLeo's professional rabbi, Sal "200 years for extortion" DiMasi, currently awaiting trial on serious extortion charges and under further federal investigation for activities while Speaker of the Massachusetts House or Representatives, tells you all you need to know of the corrupting influence that such absolute power carries with it. And it simply doesn't need to be that way!

After the iron fisted rule of Senate President William Bulger, who was called by 60 Minutes "the most powerful politician in America after the President", there was pressure to elect a more reasonable presence as Senate President than Bulger. The fact that for many of the years Bulger was Senate President his brother, James "Whitey" Bulger, notorious organized crime figure on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List and a widely feared thug and murderer was ever present was most definitely a power behind the power to keep every state senator compliant during most of President Bulger's term in office. Few would admit to that fact, but it's the truth. Plainly put, most state senators, during Bulger's time in office, were intimidated. Having been born in Southie, and hearing tales of the "Gustan Gang" where Whitey Bulger got his start, I know this is true.

Now comes the Gaming Bill. Given that a single man, Speaker DeLeo, killed the gaming bill last session when it dealt only with casino gambling while both Senate President Murray and Governor Patrick favored the legislation tells you what you need to know about the power of the race track lobby and it's hold on DeLeo. Because his district is feeling a particular pain while he's Speaker of the House, he feels completely justified to hold up the state's interest because it doesn't fit his own personal one. And this is the kind of unfettered power that has to end.

The only trouble is the weak sheep we elect to office as state representatives who display a complete lack of intestinal fortitude when confronted by such tyrany and control of thought, word and deed. They are cowards, all of them. True politicians in every sense. And please don't try to explain the historical significance of the inner workings of the State House and why the roles played by the many actors involved are so critical to a proper functioning government on Beacon Hill. Southerners used the same kind of "historical precedent" to justify slavery in the years leading up to the Civil War. "How dare anyone question a way of life that worked so well", was their declaration thrown northward, "You just don't understand". Yes, good and right thinking people DID understand all too well. They do today as well.

Oh, I'm sure there will be the uneducated few who will try to explain that having Pat Haddad as Asst. Majority Leader is good for the region, just like the time Bob Correia served in that position as well. Sorry, as I have said many times before, "that dog won't hunt". The current system granting the Massachusetts House Speaker total control of ever aspect of life for representatives is antiquated and far too subject to abuse, as recent history plainly demonstrates. We, the citizens of the state of Massachusetts, have a right to hear every side of an argument on every issue under consideration before the House of Representatives. That's their TRUE function of legislative committees in representative democracy. WE haven't known this type of democracy in my lifetime, at least not in Massachusetts.

Regardless of how you feel about the subject of gaming in this state, there can be no doubt about the method in which it has been legislated by the House of Representatives and their leader, Speaker Robert DeLeo. It is despicable and not reflective of how we need our government to work. Personal agendas should never be allowed to completely stifle public policy or create it. Today in Massachusetts, it does. That needs to end.