Beshear makes final -- he says -- push for casinos

FRANKFORT -- With seven days left in his first legislative session, Gov. Steve Beshear is calling House Democrats together at 4:30 p.m. Monday "to launch a final push" to get his casino gambling amendment passed and sent to the hostile Senate.

Beshear announced the last-ditch effort at a Rotunda press conference surrounded by House leadership and handful of supportive groups -- teachers, chambers of commerce, and racetracks. The governor met privately with track leaders in his office beforehand.

Beshear is again pegging his pitch to money and the state's financial situation, thrown into stark relief with the release today of the Senate's proposed budget.

"It is clear that expanded gaming in the Commonwealth of Kentucky will create a substantial amount of recurring revenue, and it's very clear today Kentucky could certainly use a substantial amount of recurring revenue from some source," Beshear said. "It's time to let the people decide if this is how they want to get it."

House Speaker Jody Richards, D-Bowling Green, said that Democrats would take "a hard count" at the caucus. That would give an idea of how persuasive Beshear and the House leaders will need to be. "We'll see what we can do to get the votes we need," Richards said. He said the count still stands in the 50s, with 60 votes needed to pass a constitutional amendment. "We'll decide in the next few days" if we will take it to the floor for a vote.

"We're going to mount an effort in the next few days to see if we can get the votes," Richards said. "I look forward to a vote soon."

Opponents to casino gambling said nothing has changed. "I can't imagine the circumstances in which they think they have a chance to get this out of the House," said John-Mark Hack of Say No to Casinos. "We feel very good about the House Democrats who have committed to voting against casinos in Kentucky." Hack said by his count "close to 50" House members are committed to voting against the casino amendment.

The Rev. Nancy Jo Kemper, executive director of the Kentucky Council of Churches, compared the rally to "whipping a dead horse with a wet noodle."

-- Janet Patton

Comments

[The Horse's mouth]

Slowpoke here with a live report from the track. I'm just now gettin' around the quarter pole..looks like I'm in last place again...whoops, I just passed Casinobybasheer and he's fading fast...Yeah for me!

[Give it up, already!]

Fresh off of the governor's annual prayer breakfast last week, Beshear seems "convicted" to push for more sin and corruption in our state. The man has no soul and half a brain!

[Jim Anderson Stivers]

Ms Kemper, great one liner.

Horses Mouth, that made me laugh.

The final days of the Legislature are here, what is, five days?

Since he began his campaign for Governor Steve Beshear has embraced the Casino Issue with commitment. And, that is good for the rich people that gave a lot of money to Brer Jones, Joe Gravvis and the organizations supporting the GAMBLING ISSUE.

In this fight, I am especially disappointed in the teachers showing up to stand side by side, for an issue that will impact negatively so many of our citizens. If this does not prove to you that all the KEA or the teachers UNION want is THE MONEY, no matter how they get funded.

AS for the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce standing side by side. They are bought and paid for, they had to attend.

It should be obvious, and probably is, with this final push and all the players that have been paraded across the grounds, this final push will be the very thing that limits Beshear to one term, and an ineffective term at that.

What is the old saying, DON'T PUT ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET. Our Governor has and continues to push hard and arm twist as much as possible for THE HORSE LOBBY.

The Governor understand, and he knows, many members of the House are not going along, because those members of the HOUSE, are listening their constituents. And, a list has already appears of the YES and the NO votes for this issue.

Don't think some clever person, that wants to take the seat of a House member next election . . .is not following this.

This issue, if voted YES, by a HOUSE MEMBER and that is CONTRARY to the voters in that District, then . . . there exist a REAL ISSUE to defeat the incumbent largely because the Governor and the HORSE LOBBY has more influence with that HOUSE MEMBER than the voters in that district.

Beshear and the 'ARM TWISTERS' know this and some members of the HOUSE are standing strong on their convictions and can not be persuaded by a Governor, Money, or THE HORSE LOBBY.

Todays show in the rotunda in the Capitol was just that . . . . a show.

So, now is the time to send an email, a fax, or make a phone call to your HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE and let them know . . .for the sake of the region . . .JUST SAY NO.

Is Speaker of the House, Richards a LAP DOG?

He says NO TO CASINOS for his district, and yet he is working like hell to assist the Governor, in a proposal Mr. Richards does not want in his district. The same for HOUSE member STUMBO. He says his district is TOO POOR for a Gambling operation.

Which side of the mouth are these HOUSE MEMBERS talking out of?

TODAYS SHOW WAS "CAMEO" ONLY AND DID NOTHING TO INFORM THE CITIZENS. The same old, same old. MONEY!

"I just wanna say!"

Jim Anderson Stivers
Frankfort, KY.

[nothing but the truth]

Another day, another major embarassment for the worst governor in Kentucky's history. Only 19 legislators showed up for Beshear's casino rally. 17 House members and 2 Senators.

What the H-L also left out of this article is that the Governor wanted all the legislative supporters at the rally to serve as his backdrop. According to sources, when the number of legislators was determined, Beshear's communications advisors wanted to cancel the event. 17 is a long way from 60.

It's no wonder, that according to WHAS, more Kentuckians disapprove of the worst Governor in Kentucky's history than approve of him. The numbers are 46% approve while 48% disapprove. This despite the fact that the editors of the H-L and C-J have done their best to prop him up.

How is poor Larry Dale going to spin this one? Perhaps he will write an editorial about Beshear's leadership on the 70 cent increase in the tobacco tax. Oh that's right, that one is dead as well.

Now Beshear is stuck with using his executive power to reward his cronies with the billions in state tax dollars that the legislature is putting in the budget. The House laid the ground work for the worst Governor in Kentucky's history to again steer tax dollars to Democratic counties and away from the Republican strong holds.

[obelisk149]

Politics, and money, makes for strange bedfellows. How ironic that our educators are so much in favor of gambling just to get money. I guess they would favor prostitution as well if it would help to fill the coffers. By the way, how did that bill turn out that was going to make it more criminal for a teacher to have sex with a student? Any KEA positions taken on that legislation?

[Elizabeth]

Pitiful. People can't afford gasoline to drive to jobs that don't pay enough to survive on. The cost of milk and eggs and good meat is through the roof.

And the only thing that drives this governor is making more money for people in the big mansions off of Ironworks, Paris Pike, Frankfort Pike and the owners and stockholders of casinos.

It is sad that this governor will ruin the reputation of Mongiardo as well as Rep. Richards.

[coleman]

Pitiful, it is a shame people can't afford gas to drive to work..Gas was 1.85 a gallon when Bush/Cheney was elected now very possible hit 4.00 by summer. Don't blame Beshear..We are in a recession due to the irresponsible vodoo economics of the Republicans. Warren Buffet said last week he was voting Democrat so this mess will straighten out.

[BP]

It is obvious the Just Say No to Casinos are posting here..Of course we know Forgy is behind the JSNO gang. He is surely a real family values man...left his wife of 30 years to date a much younger woman...what a hypocrite to represent family values.

[BP]

It is obvious the Just Say No to Casinos are posting here..Of course we know Forgy is behind the JSNO gang. He is surely a real family values man...left his wife of 30 years to date a much younger woman...what a hypocrite to represent family values.

[Philip]

To ridicule one's private pain or struggles to score political points is below contempt, BP. If we only allowed perfect people to speak out on issues, the SILENCE would be deafening!

When you cannot defend your position on issues, some of you start throwing stones at people to deflect your weak arguments.

Casinos are dead in Kentucky, and righfully so. This is the result of enough people seeing the utter foolishness of expanding gambling, not the work of one group. The whole gambling endeavor has been rotten at its core, from the secret, apparently successful, attempt to buy the governor by Mr. Yung, to the false claims of all that "easy money", to the attempt to "fix" the election in Mongiardo's old district, to the shenanigans in the House, on and on.

What is really missing is a lack of moral imperative. There is NO MORAL IMPERATIVE to bring in casinos, quite the contrary. It is a regressive solution of the worst order. ANY thinking person, Rep or Dem, once they put aside partisanship and self-interest, could see that!

It is sad that a man like Beshear, with so much experience and knowledge, would squander his entire political capital and reputation on such a failed policy! If the man cannot regain his soul, we are in for a dismal four years.

[Jim Anderson Stivers]

U can’t beat the casino odds. That is way they call it gambling, and not winning!

Gambling Myths
Myth:People can predict if a coin is going to come up heads or tails when it is flipped.

Fact: Each flip of the coin is an independent event. It doesn't matter what came up in the previous flip. The chances of heads or tails coming up in a single flip are 50 per cent, regardless of how many times you flip the coin.

Myth: There are systems that make it easier to predict winning lottery numbers.

Fact: It doesn't t matter how the numbers are picked; your odds of winning are always the same. Take a lottery like Lotto 6/49 for example. All the numbers are put into a drum and then mixed up. The selection is purely by chance. Each number has the same chance of being selected (a 1 in 49 chance to be exact). Your chances of winning with one ticket are 1 in 13,983,816. That means there is no system for picking lottery numbers. It is all a matter of luck and luck comes in two varieties: good and bad.

Myth: Gambling is exciting and adds to the fun.

Fact: Risking a little bit of your hard earned cash makes a game of golf, cards or pool more fun according to some people. For sure there is some excitement attached to taking risks. But there is very little excitement involved in losing your money. Problem gamblers often told us they were unhappy, anxious, worried and upset.

Myth: People can generally win their money back if they have a losing streak.

Fact: This is simply not true and casinos exist because people don't win their money back. Think about it: how long would a casino that paid out more money than it took in be able to stay in business? The fact is that gamblers lose far more money than they win in these places.

Myth: An event is either more or less likely if it has not happened for a long time.

Fact: Many people falsely believe, for example, that if one color has won several times in a row in roulette then the other color is overdue and will bet on it. While the ratio of reds to blacks will always approach 50/50 in the long term it can not be concluded that this will happen in the short term. It does not matter what the history of past spins is, every trial in games of luck like roulette are independent, and each color is equally likely to come up every time.

Myth: That idiot at third base is killing me.

Fact: A common myth at the blackjack table is that a bad player, especially one in the last seat, will disrupt the natural order of the cards and cause everyone to lose. It is true that such a player sometimes will make a play that will result in the dealer beating everybody rather than breaking. However in the short run such a player is just as likely to help you as to hurt you and in the long run they won't make any difference. The cards are in random order and they are not prearranged to make the dealer break assuming correct play.

How could it be any clearer than this.

[CL Swan]

I'd like to hear from other bloggers what they think will be necessary to keep the expanded gambling issue from coming up next year/ensuing years. Number one: what solutions can we present that are better public policy-wise to help the horse industry remain viable in a market where other racetracks are using casino dollars to fatten their purses? One solution I'd like to explore is the idea of an endowment. I think this would be a very viable solution and much better for the entire commonwealth in the long run. I welcome your input on this idea. Number two: how can we shut down the constant push by expanded gambling interests to connect with the Ky public? For example, the 84WHAS traffic report is always sponsored by casino big dollars. Can we build a coalition that will squeeze out that advertising and replace that sponsorship? Number three: what other areas do we need to address to effectively shut down the push by big money special interests to see casinos come to Ky?
We may have won the battle, but I want to win the war. ~ cls

[John-Mark Hack]

I don't normally post here, but I read posts daily and appreciate the input that everyone provides on all issues. Today's discussion motivated me to add some things to correct some misstatements/misinformation and add to CL Swan's insightful proposal.

First: Coleman brought up Warren Buffett. Just FYI, Buffett steadfastly opposed and supported the opposition campaign to casinos proposed in Nebraska because of the fundamental unfairness of a tax system based on addiction and ignorance. You can view an interview of Buffett on the subject at the National Coalition Against Gambling Expansion website.

Second: BP, Larry Forgy has no involvement with the Say No to Casinos campaign. To the best of my knowledge, he has not contributed and I can tell you with absolute certainty that while he may support our position, he has not been involved in our strategy development and campaign execution in any way whatsoever. Also, the bloggers who post against casinos most often have no formal affiliation with our campaign. They are citizens eloquently expressing their well-informed opinions (e.g. Stivers, Elizabeth, Phillip, CL Swan, others), but we have never orchestrated blog postings. We're winning (not just Say No, but everyone opposed to casinos in KY) because a casino-government partnership is bad public policy and many thoughtful, intelligent citizens of KY recognize it to be so and see through the slogans and propaganda of the casino industry and casinocrat politicians.

Finally, CL Swan's proposal is something to be extensively explored, and I'd like to lend my help in doing so. I have never been entirely comfortable with leading a campaign called "Say No..." because we have not positioned ourselves to be FOR anything, when in fact many of us involved in the campaign are for sustainable solutions to properly funding and operating state government. In addition, I think there are some innovative, viable marketing ideas being discussed by some in the thoroughbred industry that could result in actually increasing spectators at the tracks, and I'm sure there are other approaches that should be further explored. On the advertising issue, some people believe that it may actually be illegal to advertise activities in KY that are illegal in KY, even when the advertisements are from out of state interests. I think we should approach the attorney general on this issue to figure out if such advertising is illegal, and if it is petition him to uphold the law. As for other areas, I'm hopeful that the casino industry decides to cut its losses and go home IF we're able to keep the House from taking a vote on the issue. If they can't win with a Governor who won by 17 points, in the Chamber controlled by that Governor's party, then will they ever win? I'm hopeful that they'll take their chips and go home, but I realize that may sound a bit naive. As for winning the war (as a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, I try to steer away from war analogies), if we can prevail, then KY may well be a national indicator for turning the tide of gambling expansion. There are national groups forming (Google Freedomplayers), and this third historic wave of gambling expansion may have crested.

Thanks again to all the bloggers (not just our supporters) for the ongoing deliberation of this issue, and thanks to those of you who have consistently explained why the casino-government partnership has been and always will be BAD PUBLIC POLICY.

Now let's move on to empowering economic development and sustainable solutions that actually build our people up instead of tearing them down. When the whole boat rises, we're all better off. KY deserves more than our historic tendency of continuing down the paths of the least desirable policy options.

[Jim Anderson Stivers]

If our General Assembly would stop this PORKING then, maybe . . . we can see some changes in the economic structure of our Commonwealth.

It appears, at this time, the CASINO ISSUE has failed to gain the support, of the members of the House Of Representatives, are for the most part listening to their constituents at home.

And, it appears from all surveys that this issue is the one DIVISIVE ISSUE that has followed our Governor, just because he feels obligated to carry the flag as long as possible for the big donors.

Part of this structure of meetings, etc, etc. is to establish contacts for future political donations. If you don't identify yourself, as a HOUSE MEMBER that supports the CASIONO ISSUE, then you won't get any of Brer Jones money next time around.

We will know for sure FRIDAY those HOUSE MEMBERS THAT STOOD TALL FOR THEIR DISTRICT and the ones that caved in to the arm twisting of the Governor and the campaign contributions, to make this issue, the main issue of Governor Beshear's term.

Can he recover his lost popularity, that depends on . . . Does he want to be more consolatory to the members of the Senate and the House or, does he still want to practice politics of the 1980's?

[Jim Anderson Stivers]

I agree with Mr. Swan.

The opposition here is not so much against the Kentucky ICON horses, as it is the social and government cost of knowing what it cost to treat compulsive gamblers.

There is no question that due to the MARKET CONDITIONS of CASINO HALLS all around Kentucky then it is time to try and level the playing field for our THOROUGHBRED INDUSTRY.

The answer is not gambling Casinos, the answer is BETTER MORE COMPETITIVE MARKETING BY THE RACETRACKS. It is they who allowed this RACINO ISSUE TO FLOURISH AND SPREAD LIKE A PLAGUE ACROSS AMERICA.

We do need to assist the HORSE IMAGE FOR OUR COMMONWEALTH and there must be a better way to shore up support for the BREEDERS without enslaving 60,000 Kentucky Citizens to compulsive gambling.

If there are other sensible ways to support and prop up the Thoroughbred people I would be for it.

How about a portion of the LOTTERY BEING ALLOCATED to the PURSE at the tracks.
The LOTTERY COULD CUT THE OVERHEAD AND MANAGE TO MUSCLE OUT A FEW MILLION. After all the LOTTERY IS A COMPETITOR to the racing people. But, not to the degree that CASINOS ARE. Perhaps some clever marketing person could come up with a way to structure this assistance. Maybe some pull tabs on a horse racing game that people could buy a ticket for a low price.

Or, structure the lottery, so that so much money is allocated to ASSIST IN THE MARKETING OF HORSE RACING.

So, if there is a better way, perhaps the voters would support it. And since we have A LOTTERY AND IT IS GAMBLING, WHY NOT TAKE SOME OF THOSE FUNDS TO SHORE UP SUPPORT FOR THE HORSE PEOPLE.

I just wanna say

Jim Anderson Stivers
Frankfort, KY.

[Jim Anderson Stivers]

The way to END THIS CASINO ISSUE is to find an alternative to CASINOS.

And, the Assembly could do that, if they wanted to.

How about asking the Lottery board, to allocate at least, one million dollars per year to the purse for the Bluegrass Stakes and the Kentucky Derby? Maybe two million for our ICON. , , , THE KENTUCKY DERBY.

[Philip]

Thank you, John-Mark. That was very instructive and encouraging. I believe that citizens will respond to a positive alternative to growing our state economy and preserving our vital horse industry without expanded gambling.

I, for one, would like to see prominent members of both parties come together to show leadership in this area. I would particularly appreciated Democrats stepping out to fill the leadership void from that side of the aisle.

[Elizabeth]

I am so impressed with the postings here! Thank you.

Now, if the legislature will just come back to work from the Clooney and Clinton shows and help the people of this poor and struggling state.

[Philip]

AMEN, Elizabeth!

[CL Swan]

Dear friends: deeply appreciative to those of you who responded with ideas for creating alternate revenue sources to keep our horse industry viable, as well as helping our legislators formulate "sustainable solutions to properly funding and operating state government." (quote is from John-Mark Hack) I can see how our greatest resource is people - who, given problems out-sourced by government, will come forth with creative, forward thinking ways to develop Kentucky and formulate policies which will set Kentucky up for preeminence in every indicator for quality standard of living.

Quick summary of ideas posted so far:

With regard to horse industry:
1. better more competitive marketing by thoroughbred industry to increase attendance at tracks
2. monies from lottery earmarked to supplement purses
3. prominent members from both parties meeting across the aisle to take leadership in formulating solutions which are more family friendly and better public policy in the long term.
4. endowment created in such a way the principle will grow continually while producing increasing interest which is used to supplement purses.

With regard to advertising:
1. inquire with attorney general as to legality of casino industry advertising in a state where such industry is illegal. Petition him to put a stop to it if it is found to be in violation of the law.

~ cls