event details posted by: Casino-Free Philadelphia begins: Feb 27, 9:00 am ends: Feb 27, 10:00 am location: Outside Governor Rendell's office on the 11th floor of the Bellevue (Walnut & Broad Street)

Casino-Free Philadelphia will deliver a series of straightforward demands to the Governor:
• Help us identify the hidden costs of casinos to give a full analysis – though there are many, we want him to name at least seven;
• Create a serious cost/benefit analysis – if he does not, we will do it ourselves using the best data we can find; and finally
• Debate us on the supposed costs or benefits of casinos. There has never been a full debate on casino slot parlors in Philadelphia. If necessary, we will go to his office to force a debate in Philadelphia's first-ever Debate-In.

On Wednesday we launch the campaign, giving this homework to the Governor. To assist the Governor with them, CFP will deliver calculators to help him. After the delivery, Casino-Free Philadelphia will hold a press conference to explain the nature of the campaign.

OPERATION HIDDEN COSTS

Casino-Free Philadelphia believes that the numbers Governor Rendell has used to champion the economic benefits of casinos are grossly inflated and misleading. He claims that casinos will bring 7,000 new jobs into the city while some economic studies show casinos could create net job loss of 5,900 jobs. He has budget only .001% of casino revenue to deal with gambling addiction when it could cost the city up to 2,000 times more to deal with the impact of those new addicts.

Daniel Hunter of Casino-Free Philadelphia says, "Every major project comes with hidden costs. So far Rendell has been using grossly overstated and misleading numbers to promote casino development. We're prepared to give him a hand, and a calculator, to help him take a better look at the numbers."

Operation Hidden Costs is a two-month campaign to ensure accountability to addressing the real economics of casinos. During the course of Operation Hidden Costs Casino-Free Philadelphia is planning a series of actions to highlight the importance of having a transparent examination of the costs/benefits of casinos. To help meet our demands we are urging the Governor to look at data provided by independent sources, like the ones published by the Pennsylvania Inter-Governmental Cooperation Authority (PICA) and Temple University Professor, Fred Murphy.