"Old foes gird for slots parlor fight" February 07, 2012|By Mark Arsenault
The dawn of casino gambling in Massachusetts has revived the rivalry of Gary Piontkowski and George Carney....
The competitors are longtime business rivals, personal adversaries, and, in many ways, polar opposites.
Piontkowski is a polished businessman from the textile industry and a politically connected Republican.
Carney is a blunt-talking high-school dropout and well-wired into Democratic politics.
Opposites are supposed to attract, but these savvy suburban track owners do not much like each other....
I don't like either one of the scum, nor the messenger.
A less-hyped part of the law, included after years of lobbying by the state’s racetracks, authorizes the slot machine parlor, which can be built anywhere. It requires a more modest investment, though still no less than $125 million in capital investments and a $25 million licensing fee....
No major casino operator has announced that it wants to compete with the racetracks to build the slot machine parlor, which will be taxed at an effective rate of 49 percent, nearly double the 25 percent rate to be levied on the casino resorts....
I won't be playing anyway, so....
--more--"
