House Subcommittee Hearings

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by Kasept

Actually it's not. It's vocal response to say what IS BEING DONE... I'm on the air 15 hours a week doing it. My head is hardly in the sand.

I think thats where the faith of general population is softening. We read stories about committees and approaches and ideas and thoughts, yet it never seems to really materialize. You and I can say to our friends, "There is a new committee looking into performance enhancing drugs which should help improve the status quo" all we want, but at the end of the day, this committee really has no jurisdiction. So they can only recommend, and before you know, we have a pile of recommendations, but no way to enforce. So what needs to happen for the sport to start enforcing? That's where I am coming from.

I wasn't calling you on ostrich... for the record!

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

I think thats where the faith of general population is softening. We read stories about committees and approaches and ideas and thoughts, yet it never seems to really materialize. You and I can say to our friends, "There is a new committee looking into performance enhancing drugs which should help improve the status quo" all we want, but at the end of the day, this committee really has no jurisdiction. So they can only recommend, and before you know, we have a pile of recommendations, but no way to enforce. So what needs to happen for the sport to start enforcing? That's where I am coming from.

I wasn't calling you on ostrich... for the record!

Let me give you an analogy to what may possibly occur.

A department store is doing steady business. They have the ups and downs like other businesses but they are established and have a loyal customer base. But they have this little shoplifting problem that is biting off 5% of its profits. A local tv station does a story on the shoplifting issue and people all of a sudden have a lack of confidence in the stores security and think they may be in danger. Even though no one was threatened and shoplifters rarely are violent offenders, the store decides it needs to beef up its security forces and use all the modern devices even metal detectors to keep out guns, even though guns have been an issue. They say it is to restore the publics confidence in us. so they put in all these costly devices and cameras. Then the bill come for the equipment. Holy crap they store says. This is expensive. We have to raise our prices to pay for all this stuff, even after finding some of it is overkill. So they raise their prices 20% to pay for the equipment. The end results are decidedly poor. The good news is that shoplifting is way down from the previous levels and the customers feel safer. The bad news is that sales are off 40% because there are a whole lot fewer customers because they have priced themselves out of the market.

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

A department store is doing steady business. They have the ups and downs like other businesses but they are established and have a loyal customer base.

Would you call an industry who needs slots to save it a "steady business?"

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

Would you call an industry who needs slots to save it a "steady business?"

Check handle trends the last 10 years. They look pretty steady to me.

Slots are competition that has huge tax advantages that are relatively recent additions to the gambling landscape. Racing was doing fine even as it's taxes were increased because of the lack of competition. When casino's started to spread throughout the country racing was at a big disadvantage because it was already heavily taxed and regulated. The only gambling game in town now had a competitor that had huge built in advantages and racing's hands were tied. Racing's problem is that were slow to adopt slots and casinos to add to their gaming menu. The problem wasnt racing, it was the addition to the market of a competitor with a huge advantage. It is the same reason why Wal Marts eat up other businesses. It isnt necessarily the fault of the other businesses but unless they morph into something other than the same old business model they will disappear. I tend to think of it more in tose terms. You know Mc Donalds sells more than hamburgers now

[alysheba4]

ripping the great jack van berg.......wow

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Check handle trends the last 10 years. They look pretty steady to me.

So the status-quo is okay? Handle remains steady. But the status-quo, like you said, is dangerous...

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

unless they morph into something other than the same old business model they will disappear.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

So the status-quo is okay? Handle remains steady. But the status-quo, like you said, is dangerous...

You are the one who inferred that business wasnt steady. Look past the headlines and examine the actual facts. Wouldnt adding slots be changing the staus quo?

As for the drugs issue, there have been more changes in the last 3 years than the previous 30. If that is not good enough for you...

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

You are the one who inferred that business wasnt steady. Look past the headlines and examine the actual facts. Wouldnt adding slots be changing the staus quo?

As for the drugs issue, there have been more changes in the last 3 years than the previous 30. If that is not good enough for you...

I'm not really sure what you're trying to say here, nor what you're trying to defend. First you said the handle is steady, so all is a-okay. And then you said Wal-Mart is driving out other businesses, because they refused to change their business model, which contradicts the steady handle argument (which for the record, handle has dropped by since 2003, and it dropped since last year as well). And again, I'm not simply arguing drugs alone. Drugs are one in a long line of issues.