Kentucky Sen. David Williams responds to Bill Farish

[philcski]

Originally Posted by freddymo

I gather you are a very smart person. I recognize you are no dummy so think about it. When KY loses its prized race horse industry or more correctly it is culled to a sustainable size cetain things will develop and grow organically. While a forest fire sux for the things living in the forest, the land revitalizes itself and the ground becomes more fertile. While there is pain in Detriot now that car industry is shrinking certainly people will have to educate themselves in different areas then making cars for 68 bucks an hour. Again it sucks if you worked for the UAW for the last 10 years but this is crappy part of life. Our industry used to bolstered by the pharma companies buying 1 bil in ad specialty products a year.. In one day collectively as an industry they all decided to stop purchasing ad specialty products to promote drugs.. Whoops we where out 30 mil in revenue in one day. While it sucked it has inspired all to reinvent their business. Perhaps I should have asked my local politician to have slots at Freehold and funnel all the ad specialty companies in the state some of the stolen earn??
Horse racing is not any different then any other industry just because live stock is involved. It is subject to the pro and cons of economics and needs to be mindful that is cottage entertainment industry. As such it needs to emerge from these times smaller and healthier and if that means less racing in any one part of the country including KY then so be it. It's ok if you and your bretheren have to practice your trade in a different environment. Horse racing in KY isn't immuned to issues just because it has such a rich history...That was then this is now. You and yours are good horseman you will make a living were you need to. Just like our company will need to find other companies that need our products instead of Pharma's. Change is healthy.. As for how it helps KY maybe today it doesn't but after the fire the ground is more fertile and the people in the state will be better off in jobs that are within sectors of the economy that are more reliable then racing. Or the folks in racing will have jobs in a stronger healthy sport either way its a win win for KY just not immediately. Your get rich quick slot solution isn't in anyones best interest longterm..

Steve had some guy on one day telling us about some wonderful new community in Indiana some where.. New police new roads new this new that, it was fantasy land not that it wasnt real for the time being just that it was built with fools gold. Imagine how hard that town is going to fall when the slot dollars come to an end. You want your livlihood pinned to slots...Come on you are way smarter than that.

Ask people in Vegas how that has worked out for the last 75 years. It's gone from an outpost in the desert to one of the best places in the country to live with almost 2 million people in the Vegas Valley (regardless of the recent credit crunch brought on by superfluous, unsustainable housing prices.)

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by philcski

Ask people in Vegas how that has worked out for the last 75 years. It's gone from an outpost in the desert to one of the best places in the country to live with almost 2 million people in the Vegas Valley (regardless of the recent credit crunch brought on by superfluous, unsustainable housing prices.)

Come on Phil a World famous destination location vs. slots in every Tom Dick and Harry part of the USA now.. Vegas is nothing like Yonkers on a Tuesday nite in Feb. You are way smarter then this as well. How is AC fairing? Its an FN GHOST TOWN and all the wonderful result of al those billions of earn that was pumped into the area seems a bit faded.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by freddymo

Come on Phil a World famous destination location vs. slots in every Tom Dick and Harry part of the USA now.. Vegas is nothing like Yonkers on a Tuesday nite in Feb. You are way smarter then this as well. How is AC fairing? Its an FN GHOST TOWN and all the wonderful result of al those billions of earn that was pumped into the area seems a bit faded.

You ever been to Yonkers on a Tuesday? I have many times, it's busy.

Ever been to Hollywood Indiana on a Tuesday? Place is super busy. And I'm not kidding. Mostly KY and OH plates.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by philcski

You ever been to Yonkers on a Tuesday? I have many times, it's busy.

Ever been to Hollywood Indiana on a Tuesday? Place is super busy. And I'm not kidding. Mostly KY and OH plates.

Of course its busy but when Ohio slots come on line the Ohio plates go away and then if the Ky slots come on line the Ky plates go away then the jobs in that pretty place that the KY and Ohio plates made go away. It really is a horrendously poorly constructed solution to racing. And more importantly it doesnt curtail the expansion of racing it encourageous it.

[Danzig]

all things being equal, racing would still have culling between who has a good product, and who does not. problem is, there isn't a level field right now. no reason why kentucky can't try to right the ship, even if they're a late entrant into the slots game.
and i certainly don't get why kentucky can't enter the slots game, regardless of how many slots are online in a neighboring state. there is a fair amount of restaurants in a town near here. a new one is being built. he's a late entrant, should he be barred as there are already restaurants? how dare he peel customers away from what already exists...what kind of logic is that?

[Cannon Shell]

Freddys argumnet only makes sense from a macro-economic viewpoint in which everything was neatly seperated. It isnt. Horseracing derives it income from gambling. Slots are now part of that economy regardless of what racing does. Racing has taken the view it is better to join them, gain in the short term and possibly be weakened in the long term than to fight them directly and assuredly lose in the short term which means there is no long term. KY is a good example of what happens when you dont embrace the alternate gambling money. And yes racing does deserve that money and the ability to capitilize on that form of gambling because it has long been the only player in that field and has capitulated many times to state govt to stay in business. The states have drawn a disproportionate amount from our revenue streams for decades, it is about time we got paid back. Except in the corrupt world of dirty, under the table money taking politicians like David Williams.

And Freddy, if the horse industry leaves KY there is nothing to come in and replace it. The business climate in this state is not very good and there is a reason that business that flowed South out of anti business states like NY and NJ passed right on by KY.

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Racing has taken the view it is better to join them, gain in the short term and possibly be weakened in the long term than to fight them directly and assuredly lose in the short term which means there is no long term.

This is extremely spot-on... my big concern though is once the short term fixes are in place and a pulse is found again, how well is racing positioned for the long term?

[Left Bank]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Freddys argumnet only makes sense from a macro-economic viewpoint in which everything was neatly seperated. It isnt. Horseracing derives it income from gambling. Slots are now part of that economy regardless of what racing does. Racing has taken the view it is better to join them, gain in the short term and possibly be weakened in the long term than to fight them directly and assuredly lose in the short term which means there is no long term. KY is a good example of what happens when you dont embrace the alternate gambling money. And yes racing does deserve that money and the ability to capitilize on that form of gambling because it has long been the only player in that field and has capitulated many times to state govt to stay in business. The states have drawn a disproportionate amount from our revenue streams for decades, it is about time we got paid back. Except in the corrupt world of dirty, under the table money taking politicians like David Williams.

And Freddy, if the horse industry leaves KY there is nothing to come in and replace it. The business climate in this state is not very good and there is a reason that business that flowed South out of anti business states like NY and NJ passed right on by KY.

There is something to come and replace it...... Ball Homes Inc. Subdivisions,gated communities,huge shopping centers next to Keeneland,etc.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Freddys argumnet only makes sense from a macro-economic viewpoint in which everything was neatly seperated. It isnt. Horseracing derives it income from gambling. Slots are now part of that economy regardless of what racing does. Racing has taken the view it is better to join them, gain in the short term and possibly be weakened in the long term than to fight them directly and assuredly lose in the short term which means there is no long term. KY is a good example of what happens when you dont embrace the alternate gambling money. And yes racing does deserve that money and the ability to capitilize on that form of gambling because it has long been the only player in that field and has capitulated many times to state govt to stay in business. The states have drawn a disproportionate amount from our revenue streams for decades, it is about time we got paid back. Except in the corrupt world of dirty, under the table money taking politicians like David Williams.

And Freddy, if the horse industry leaves KY there is nothing to come in and replace it. The business climate in this state is not very good and there is a reason that business that flowed South out of anti business states like NY and NJ passed right on by KY.

Dr. get me out of pain, keep me out of pain, I will be able to work hard while I am out of pain build my business and make some money. I will deal with withdrawing from the pain killers some other day and the damage it has done to me and my business another day. Dr. I know the pain medicine is going to feel so so good and I am ENTITLED to it because I used to be it for state treasurys.

Or

Dr. tells you can't work in a coal mine anymore because the conditions in it will kill you slowly. I suggest you move to NY where you can mine for gold in a gold mine that is stable and will become more stable if you and your mining buddies come there and work smartly and help build it from the ground up. You may not like the weather but the conditions for your long term health are much more favorable.

Don't ask me which one I would take I did a year and a half of rehab when I was 20 years old.. I guess I was young and foolish and lured by the euphoric feeling..lol

As for Ky..In 1987 I started playing Roto Baseball(fantasy) used to have our stats mailed to us each week. Then in like 88 I got this thing called a modem and downloaded stats (it took all night to download 5 pages of data lol) this thing called the internet was invented. It saved the US economy, I had no clue what it was at the time nor did I understand the implications. Also around that time this thing callled a cell phone started to be in vogue we had no clue how many jobs that would create or what it meant to the business world(some people even were able to buy racehorses with their success in the industry). Why won't or can't KY particpate in the next economic revolution? Maybe it will be energy related, maybe it will be related to space, maybe it will be drug related with cures for whatever. The point is we have no clue when or what it will be we just know that through history such economic events spurr growth and mankind. We aren't hoping it will happen we know it will. Ky just needs to be a part of it, and horse racing just needs to worry about it's product the right size and flavor for its patrons.