Department Of Shit For Brains
It was an open secret that Louis DeNaples was mobbed up -- we're talking literally and not figuratively here -- when Pennsylvania gaming officials approved a license for his Mount Airy Casino Resort. So it wasn't exactly shocking when he was indicted by a grand jury on charges of lying about his organized-crime connections.
DeNaples had his gaming license yanked and was barred from playing any role in the troubled Poconos casino's operations, and with the economy now in the crapper Mount Airy has run out of dough and needs a cash infusion from its godfather . . . er, owner to pay its bills.
That the Poconos political establishment would embrace casinos as the path to a brighter financial future was stupid enough, but then it climbed into bed with DeNaples.
We're not merely talking the loss of some casino jobs. The township and school district in which Mount Airy is located depend on the casino for tax revenues, with the schools alone being owed about $2.5 million.
Pocono Record photograph
I think more than just the Pocono's politicos are in bed with DeNaples... there appears to be some much bigger politicians under those sheets of green. And, that's where this story really lies. The Poconos is a struggling, conflicted brand identity and this gaming situation is a deficit in more than just business revenue. And, to think that these politicians have our backs... right.
ReplyDeleteElektra:
ReplyDeleteYou probably are more correct than you know, and there are indeed bigger fish under "those sheets of green," as you marvelously put it.
I am in the Poconos a lot and have been for years and have this nagging habit of expecting more from politicians there than they are ever willing to deliver.
Tying this troubled region's future to slot machines was inane in the least and criminal at worst.