Loading ...Political Potpourri
There’s nothing real big in the world of politics today, but there are a lot of little interesting things.
Make That Two Candidates for Governor
Architect Jim Schellinger is announcing he wants a new job, Governor. The Democrat has strong ties to the state party establishment. And has lined up support from Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson, Congresswoman Julia Carson and former House Speaker John Gregg. Schellinger filed paperwork yesterday. The only other formally announced candidate is Senate Minority Leader Richard Young.
The Madness of Monroe
City-County Council Republicans will officially call for a bi-partisan investigation of Council President Monroe Gray’s alleged ethical indiscretions. They say Gray’s failure to disclose his business connections with a contractor who does business with the city, in addition to other matters, warrant a closer look. Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi’s office will neither confirm nor deny whether Gray is a subject of investigation.
Water, Water Everywhere
In case you were worried, water is now the official drink of the State of Indiana. The State Senate passed a resolution Monday making the declaration. With all the issues facing Indiana, education, property taxes, the budget it’s good to know that water is now the official drink of Indiana.
March 20th, 2007 at 12:46 pm
Amended slots bill OK’d by Senate panel
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070320/LOCAL19/70320027
Interesting that Horse Tracks are pleading poverty to get slots but they can afford a $400 million fee to get them.
Why would a group of Hoosiers spend millions to buy the money loosing Anderson’s Hoosier Park horse race track if they had no guarantee that they would get slots?
March 20th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Interesting. Frankly if the tracks were doing that poorly, close ‘em!
it’s not that far to Louisville’s Churchill Downs.
March 20th, 2007 at 2:27 pm
Centaur owes Churchill Downs about $32 million right now. The real money behind Centaur’s bid is Churchhill Downs Inc.. If the bill passes then CDI is in again with lots of cash. Centaur wants to create the impression it’s an Indiana owned firm looking out for Indiana’s best interests. CDI is still the silent partner, besides Centaur owes them $32 mil. Not hard to figure out. Even Indiana Farm Bureau is in favor of the slots. I think it will pass.
March 20th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
If the horse tracks can’t make money after a decade of state mandated subsidies then they should go out of business.
Obviously profits are being “managed” to show losses to justify additional state subsidies or these private businesses are failures that don’t deserve additional state assistance.
March 20th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
4:06,
It’s not about horses anymore. It’s about the slots. CDI can’t get slots at their tracks. They are using Centaur to get them in Indiana.2,500 slots!
March 20th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
History of Indiana Horse Tracks:
State grants horse track gambling license and alcohol permits over a decade ago.
State mandates $29 million in subsidies to “jump start” the industry.
Horse tracks complain they can’t make a profit after years of increasing state subsidies. They request and are granted off track betting parlors in every major city in the state.
Now horse tracks complain they can’t make a profit and are requesting slot machines.
What’s the next request after claiming no profit? Pit Bull or Cock Fighting? Pea Shakes and Cherry Masters? Will they want a medical marijuana permit? Maybe they will want a license for legal prostitution?
It’s time for the state to quit subsidizing this failed government creation that only benefits political insiders. Let them succeed or fail like every other private business.
March 21st, 2007 at 7:42 am
These silly politician think that more gambling will bring in more tax revenue.
Expanding gambling in central Indiana will not increase the states tax base. It will only recirculate “old” money that would have been spent in our state anyway.
The idea behind requiring casinos to be on water was intended to require them to locate on our states borders with large cities like Chicago, Louisville,& Cincinnati. This would entice out-of-state people to come across the state border and spend “new” money in our state thereby increasing Indiana’s tax base.
This current batch of politicians need to learn economics and kill this bill.
March 21st, 2007 at 7:43 am
Based upon the promises made every time they wanted to expand gambling over two decades, we should expect that the states gambling proceeds are already going towards education.
Clearly they are not. They are using the same false advertising and last minute bait and switch tactics that have worked every time before.
March 21st, 2007 at 6:55 pm
Would it be the end of the world if these horse tracks went out of business because of a lack of interest?
No more government bail outs!
March 22nd, 2007 at 4:22 am
How many state legislators received campaign contributions from the race track owners and their associates? Why are these privately owned businesses receiving large welfare checks from the state of Indiana when the State can’t afford to educate our children? Who’s getting kickbacks from these people?
March 22nd, 2007 at 8:33 am
Anon 4:22,
Centaur and it’s principles have a history going back to at least 1999 (I haven’t looked at records prior to that) of donating to political campaigns on both sides of the aisle at local, state, and national levels.
That’s just one player in the game. I haven’t looked at other Centaur exec’s, at contributions from their finance and legal partners, nor at contributions from the other primary shareholders in gaming interests who are partnering with Centaur.
My estimataton is that documented campaign contributions over the last several years from these organizations for candidates who support gaming could easily surpass the $500k mark. I’ll temper that figure by re-iterating that I’ve only looked into one subset of the involved players but I think it’s fair to assume that everyone involved has been pursuing a campaign support strategy.
That would be documented, official contributions. I can’t speak to undocumented contributions.