Answer the Questions

Stan Bergstein asks important questions in today's Daily Racing Form.  Stan asks important questions about the players in the planned demise of the Meadowlands and Monmouth Park, starting with Chris Christie.

We keep hearing about how much money the NJSEA is losing.  Does that include the bond payments on a torn down stadium which the state wanted to keep professional football at the Meadowlands?  Does it include bond payments for the Atlantic City Convention Center, the Aquarium in Camden, and the expansion of Rutgers Stadium?  What about that debacle called Xanadu?  Were these plans made by the NJSEA or the same bunch of pay-to-play hacks that decided to build the now abandoned EnCap plan in the Meadowlands?  Does the revenue from the OTW location get considered as an offset to loses at the track?  Before determining how much money the NJSEA is losing, did the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services go in and do an audit of the NJSEA books to see if NJEA expenses were prorated between the appropriate business units or charged just to racing?  No such documentation was provided in any of the Hanson Reports was there?  Why should facts come into play?

Let's say the budget figures are correct.  How would the NJSEA be doing if they stayed true to their original mission before the politicians played with the gold mine?  How many millions in tax incentives does the state give out to get new business to come to New Jersey for the jobs and additional revenue it provides the state?  I guess while we can offer tax incentives to others, we can't subsidize an industry which brings in revenue more than ten times the initial allotment of investment.

While I may disagree as a taxpayer towards the unwillingness to put in slots at the Meadowlands, at least the Democratic leadership of the legislature is attempting to provide alternatives to keep racing going in New Jersey.  All we hear from the Governor and Hanson is a fight over who gets to fire the bullet which kills of racing.