Posted on 10/21/2014 6:35:24 AM PDT by C19fan
Thirty years ago, disgraced Atlantic City Mayor Michael Matthews stood in front of a federal judge and pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe from an FBI agent posing as a mobster. It was 1984. Atlantic City was a boomtown then, just six years into the casino gambling era that was going to remake the shabby resort town that I was assigned to cover as a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Every day, I watched as buses from up and down the East Coast dumped thousands of slot machine mavens and roulette table hopefuls at the eight gambling palaces that had sprung up since 1978. Construction was everywhere. So was land speculation. The real estate market was a real-life game of Monopoly. Everyone, it seemed, was flying past Go and collecting their $200.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Atlantic City is such a sad story about how corrupt politicians suck any source of money dry for their own personal patronage rather than use it to rebuild a dying community. For decades before Pennsylvania and New York approved gambling, Atlantic City made a fortune that simply disappeared into the mess of corruption, patronage and crony Capitalism that is NJ politics. Now that the money train has ended, the city is where it was before — broke and dying.
Detroit is headed in the opposite direction due to GOP control of the state. The riverfront is looking good these days.
I was in the Peoples Silly Republik of Taxachuetts this past week, and one TV add that caught my eye was about bringing good jhobs ( East of Worchester Accent ) to the State and it was about the Candidate's stance being pro-gambling.
What happened to all the tool and dye makers and machinist the North East produced that helped us Win WWII. Tangentially where is a Tax structure in these NE States to attract the next Elon Musk and what ever technology they develop and need an actual brick and mortar facility to produce it.
Gambling ultimately never works. It always gets seedy. It’s a smoke&mirrors get-rich-quick proposition. GRQ never works, yet it defines both the gambler and the gamblee.
My mother loved Atlantic City before the casinos. Now it’s just another gilded-not-golden faux palace dump.
That would be my guess, too. Government excess and corruption. Effectively, they made it impossible for a free business to make a profit. Those governments now pay the price of dealing with the collateral damage left behind.
I’d submit that a gambling operation that is unfettered by government will realize there is an optimum level of desirability to gamble, etc. and how ‘greedy’ as you say they can be. Unfettered, I think they are smart enough to strike a long term balance. It is when government starts getting their finger in the pie and tries to control things is when it is likely these businesses see no other way than to create near-impossible odds. A downward spiral when government is involved in my opinion.
Not that is was all that better before. Even in the best of times, la ghetto was just two blocks off the boardwalk.
I’ve never been to AC, but people who had been told me it was a cardinal rule to never venture anywhere away from the casinos. The rest of the city was unsafe.
There used to be regular bus trips to AC from my neck of the woods, but there aren’t so many now. Part of the reason is the availability of gaming close by, but I’m sure another reason is the deterioration of AC. Who wants to shell out so much money to travel to a city where you can’t leave your hotel?
I would be surprised if any notable number of people there even have a remote glimmer of an idea of what a tool and die maker is...
Shocking, unexpected, Bushes fault, etc.
I’m 60 yrs old and live in NJ. I visited AC once in my life....and that was enough. The place is an armpit.
Atlantic City: Liberals. ‘nuff said.
Well, can’t argue with that. There is a reason why that series “Boardwalk” is popular (informative also).
They unionized, created byzantine production crushing work rules, voted Democrat and priced their labor and benefits out of reach of their old employer's ability to pay.
I think though that running the mob out of Vegas was ultimately a bad idea. Now that politicians rule, the city is developing problems inherent to most major cities. The mobsters might have killed each other, but they wouldn't tolerate the drive by shootings and other crimes against civilians going on today.
Most people gamble with funny money. Nobody has any funny money anymore. Inflation, health care costs, and taxes have sucked us all dry.
On the other hand, there has been an uptick in the use of local, state, and national parks. For recreation, they are the best bargain around, especially for a family.
the last episode of Boardwalk Empire is this Sunday - ironic.
Just think how good it could be...
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