Word has it that the casino industry supports a bill which would provide a bridge subsidy, via internet poker games to the racing industry. This susbsidy would decrease as the other tools to promote wagering come on line and to replace the subsidy. No, it would not be $30 million a year, but $15 million year one; $10 million year two; $5 million year three. Not the ideal plan from both sides view, but a deal they can live with.
Only one problem. Jon Hanson isn't so sure that Christie would go for this; wanting this money to go for Atlantic City restoration. By the way, am I the only one wondering when did Hanson get elected to be the Governor's speaker?
This is the problem of a person obsessed with destruction. The casino industry wants to get rid of racing saying it is a dead industry, but is willing to give it one last chance to prove it can survive. The Democratic legislators from the Atlantic City area are no fans of racing but to their credit, are willing to give racing the tools they feel gives racing one last chance to survive on their own. The Governor's fellow Republican legislators seem to have come on board to give racing a chance. The only problem is the Governor, a man seemingly obsessed with racings' destruction stands in the way of giving racing a chance.
The tools to allow racing to survive are almost completed and in place for final votes and gubernatorial approval. There seems to be only one blockage to the solution of the immediate problem and he lives in the state house. Maybe the key is to send the governor and the Lt. Governor on Christmas holidays so the number three person in the line of succession can sign off on the proposals.
I just don't understand Christie's resistance to giving racing another chance. He is a man obsessed. Perhaps he is upset that he lost a trifecta in his youth and hasn't gotten over it? Maybe he has confused the NJSEA with the NJEA which represents the teachers he has declared war on. Someone should explain the difference to him. Maybe then he will be willing to give racing a second chance.
2 comments:
As someone who is married to a NJ teacher and has followed that war closer than I cared too ( the NJEA is a complete sham that continues to spew non-sense that includes but isn't limited to their side of most stories and blatant lies just to name a few. I can't seem to convince my wife of that though, no matter what evidence I have).
That being said, given what the Gov. has done and told that union, I have little hope that he is going to budge off of any stance he has so far taken with racing.
If he were to do so, either a mob of teachers or the Camden City police Dept. and others that are going to be suffering a similiar fate will meet him in an alley.
I'll also say as someone who lives in Gloucester County and went to Rutgers-Camden, I shiver at the thought of Camden's police force being cut in half. I'm sure the possible ramifications of such a decision have been made quite clear to Christie and he doesn't seem to care. What chance does racing have?
I think you hit the nail on the head when you said he is a man obsessed with destruction. I was happy to see him elected but he might be taking things a bit too far and a bit too fast.
I think the Gov. intense opposition is not saving the money for the purse supplement as much as the desire to develop the real estate. The money involved for the supplement is a drop in the bucket. Look at the lead person Hanson, his main business is real estate development. It appears no matter what the racing industry does to try to break even, it is not good enough and it is only an excuse to push the horse industry out of the Meadowlands to have access to develop the land.
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