Cross Casinos Off Your Christmas List

Today is not a good day for gambling-based revenue fans. Sal DiMasi said that the state lottery commission is $120 million short in revenue payments to the cities and towns that rely on our lunch money to pay for services. In a continued assault against fun, (or compulsive gambling, take your pick), DiMasi coolly tells Governor Deval Patrick he simply doesn’t have time to vote on casinos this year.

Here’s the Gambling Grinch’s reasoning:

DiMasi, who is emerging as the top State House opponent of Patrick’s plan to sell licenses to operate three resort casinos, said a formal discussion of the proposal can’t happen until the governor files a gambling bill. And anything filed this fall would simply come too late in the year for the kind of in-depth review a casino plan would require.“You are not going to get it done this year, I tell you that,” DiMasi told hundreds of executives at a breakfast meeting held the Associated Industries of Massachusetts.

Thanks, Sal. Way to ruin Christmas for all those hard-working lobbyists who help bring possibly imaginary economic benefits to Massachusetts.