Thursday, April 10th, the most lively debate on the costs of casinos occurred in Philadelphia. After four years of soundbites on the benefits of casinos, Governor Rendell has never articulated their costs to the city. Casinos have serious economic costs -- a net loss of $52 million per year to the city budget according to our report "You Pay Even If You Don't Play."

watch Fox 29's report on the debate-in

The Governor refused to attend -- and he shut down his office rather than supporting participatory democracy and letting us speak with his staff. Police and building security prevented anyone from going up to his 11th floor office. (By the way, the building is managed by Ron Rubin's company -- Mr. Rubin is an investor in Foxwoods).

Undeterred, we held the Philadelphia first "debate-in" right in the lobby of the Bellevue. We set up a podium. Dozens of people spoke passionately about their concerns of the costs of having casinos in residential neighborhoods.

Attending the debate was a paper mache puppet resembling Rendell. "He's a puppet for the casino industry," remarked several in attendance. The puppet was no more (or less) responsive than the Governor to citizens' concerns.

Media response to Operation Hidden Costs has been huge. For example, you can see the puppet on the front page of the Metro. A quality story was written by PlanPhilly, including a live video, and we were covered on KYW 1060, Evening Bulletin, and various blogs. Philadelphia Inquirer produced an earlier article on the costs of casinos.

You can still ask the Governor Rendell to debate us - (717) 787-2500 and/or write a letter telling him why you think $52 million is too much for Philadelphia.

Governor Edward G. Rendell
225 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120
Phone: (717) 787-2500
Fax: (717) 772-8284

We're opening a public debate. What are the costs of casinos? We say $52 million a year, even considering the benefits -- and it's not worth it.