Posts Tagged ‘mitch mcconnell’

By Ray Paulick
Every Kentuckian’s favorite piñata, Republican state Sen. Damon Thayer, was Mike Penna’s guest last Saturday on the Horse Racing Radio Network’s “Equine Forum,” discussing, naturally, the issue of slot machines at Kentucky racetracks.

(To listen to a rebroadcast of the interview, click here.)

Thayer is feeling his oats these days, following the drubbing Republican Jimmy Higdon gave the horse industry-backed candidate, Jodie Haydon, in the recent special election for a Senate seat in the 14th district made available when the Republican incumbent accepted a judgeship offered by Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear. Had Haydon defeated Higdon, the Republican majority in the state Senate would have been wafer thin and the heavy-handed rule of Senate president David “Blackjack” Williams might have been in jeopardy.

But Williams and, I would assume, Mitch McConnell, the U.S. Senate’s minority leader from Kentucky, devised a brilliant last-minute scheme targeting prominent Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid as Higdon’s real opponents. It was enough to turn the election in Higdon’s favor in this rural, conservative district, where Democrats in name only outnumber Republicans in voter registration rolls by a wide margin. Higdon won despite being heavily outspent by Haydon, thanks in large measure to a 527 organization, Keep Our Jobs in Kentucky, formed by prominent members of the horse industry who backed Haydon because of his position in favor of video lottery terminals or slot machines at Kentucky racetracks.

Thayer is feeling much maligned these days as a result of his non-support of a bill permitting racetrack VLTs that died in a Senate committee last summer and his more recent proposal for a constitutional amendment on the issue. That proposal fell on deaf ears during an October meeting with horsemen who called the measure “too little, too late.”  (click here for details). In the wake of the horse industry’s recent setback at the polls, Thayer said he plans to push his proposal forward in the legislative session that begins in January and urged leaders of Kentucky’s horse industry to get behind it, or at the very least work with him on the bill.

“It’s not beneficial to the horse industry that despite the election loss they keep speaking out on my bill,” Thayer said during his radio appearance. “I have some Republican votes for this bill. I think you’ll be surprised by the number of Republicans who would vote for this. Democrats said they would block vote against this, which I think is fraught with peril.”
 
Thayer repeated his stand that he believes “slots by statute”–as he called the bill that was passed by the House but stopped in a Senate committee last summer—is not constitutional and would be held up by a lengthy legal challenge if it passed. Kentucky’s current attorney general said the statute would not be unconstitutional, though previous attorneys general opinions have gone the other way. “And by the way,” he added, “it is dead for the foreseeable future, OK, because there are not the votes in the Senate.”

A horse industry consultant who formerly worked for Jerry Carroll at Turfway Park and as an executive with the Breeders’ Cup, Thayer said he understands the economic pressure the horse industry is facing from the slumping economy and gaming in other states that is subsidizing tracks and purses. “There is no doubt, absolutely no doubt, the horse industry in Kentucky is suffering from not only the downturn in the economy, as is the horse industry throughout the United States, but also from an uneven playing field. I get it. I worked at Turfway Park when casino boats landed in Indiana.”

Thayer said many in the horse industry misunderstood the challenge those casino boats presented at the time. “No, no we don’t need to worry about those riverboats in Indiana, we don’t need to worry about casinos and slot machines in surrounding states” he cited as the prevailing opinion. “We’re Kentucky. We can withstand that. All those people changed their opinion.”

Penna challenged Thayer on the timeline a constitutional amendment would present, along with language in the bill that would open bidding on VLTs to businesses other than racetracks in the seven Kentucky counties were tracks exist. Thayer’s proposal, if it is approved by the legislature and passed by a simple majority of Kentucky voters in November, would then require local referendums, followed by a bidding process.  Opponents have said implementation could stretch out until 2012 or ’13 if approved, but Thayer said slots could be up and operating as early as mid-2011. He also thinks the statewide referendum “could pass…my personal opinion is it’s probably a tossup. I believe the horse industry has made progress convincing people of the importance of this industry to every county. I think you shouldn’t be afraid of having a statewide debate on this issue. It would be huge. Huge. The press would cover it. You would get an opportunity to make your case like you’ve never done before in a statewide debate, and I think it would have a chance of passing.”

As for opening the bidding process to non-racetracks, Thayer said, “These slot licenses are things of value to the Commonwealth.” One of the things he said he heard during last summer’s failed effort to pass legislation was, “Why do the racetracks get a monopoly on this?”

Thayer chided the horse industry to work with him on the legislation calling for a constitutional amendment, which he said the Kentucky Equine Education Project and pro-slots Gov. Beshear previously supported. “Somewhere along the way in the last 12 months they changed their positions and decided they wanted to pursue what I call slots by statute,” he said. “People see (Beshear) has flip-flopped on the issue…and he has egg on his face.”

“My bill is the only bill that has the potential of passing the next legislative session,” he said. “A hundred million dollars would go into purses and breeders incentives in Kentucky…I guess I’m struggling to find out what part of $100 million doesn’t benefit the horse industry…

“I’ve had this proposal out since September. That’s three months ago. I put it out there early so we could have a discussion about it and people could talk to me about what they have issues with in the bill. Since then all that’s happened is people have criticized me and questioned my motives. If they really want to pursue this they need to come talk with me. This is a very controversial issue that’s been debated since 1993. It’s time to move the bill.”

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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By Ray Paulick
It is no secret that the Democrat/Republican team here at the Paulick Report has been pushing for slots to be added at Kentucky’s racetracks since the legislative session earlier this year. It’s a reluctant position, wishing our sport could dig itself out of the hole on merit alone. But with all the other competing factors, it is obvious something must be added to the revenue stream to give racing a fighting chance to survive in this strange new world. Let’s face it, it ain’t 1973 anymore.
 
And so hopefully, this will be the last column I will have to write about David “Blackjack” Williams, the Republican president of the Kentucky state Senate who has steadfastly opposed legislation allowing Kentucky’s racing industry to compete on a level playing field with surrounding states. For those of you tired of this conversation, that possibility alone is enough for this to be labeled a Good News Friday piece.
 
On Tuesday, Kentucky will be holding yet another special election for a vacancy in the 14th Senate District after Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear appointed former Republican State Sen. Dan Kelly to a cushy judgeship. Covering much of Central Kentucky, this district certainly leans Democratic in registration numbers, but, like much of Kentucky, the voters are quite conservative. This is no slam-dunk for the pro-slots movement, but with a dominant lead for Democrats in fundraising, especially when combined with money brought in by the horse industry, there is a very good chance the Republicans will lose another seat in the Senate, and the balance of power will get ever closer to tilting to the Democratic side.
 
Both candidates have experience in Frankfort, with Republican Jimmy Higdon currently the state representative that encompasses a good portion of the 14th Senate District. From what I can tell, he is a hardworking and honest legislator. However, only three paragraphs into the ‘About Jimmy Higdon’ section of his website, Higdon draws a line in the sand on the slots issue. “On gambling, Jimmy Higdon voted against the governor’s slots-in-racetracks bill during the 2009 special session and he is committed to oppose the legislation as it is currently drafted.”
 
On the hand, former Democratic state representative and city councilman Jodie Haydon understands the issues our industry faces. Haydon rightly points out that “over 100,000 people have jobs in the Kentucky horse industry” and does an expert job of explaining the relevance of this number. “If you put Toyota, Ford, Delta and UPS all together, their employees would only amount to 1/3 the number of employees in the horse industry.” That’s a strong statement from a bold leader.
 
In reality, this race isn’t about Jimmy Higdon or Jodie Haydon. Instead, this election needs to be a referendum on the bully politics that David Williams has displayed over the past decade. A win for the Democrats in this election will spell doom for Williams’ once-mighty majority. This final nail in the coffin would most likely awaken the sleeping giant, United States Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who will surely do everything in his power to keep the Republicans in the majority in Kentucky’s state Senate.
 
Why would the country’s most powerful Republican U.S. Senator care about this outcome? Whichever party holds the Kentucky Senate in 2010 also controls the redistricting of the U.S. Congressional seats based on the upcoming census. Currently, Republicans enjoy a 4-2 advantage but if the Democrats grab a majority after the mid-term elections that number could flip. Nothing would be more embarrassing for McConnell in a year that is certainly trending Republican.
 
With that in mind, David Williams is grasping at his last straw on Tuesday. A win and he probably holds on to his position. A loss and the McConnell machine will most likely push another candidate for Senate President during the run-up to this year’s general session. For those of you not familiar with Kentucky politics, McConnell has previously taken this type of matter into his own hands when dissatisfied with his party. He recruited former Louisville Congresswoman Anne Northup to run against sitting Republican Gov. Ernie Fletcher in the primary for the 2007 gubernatorial election. While she lost, the primary delivered a final blow to an already scandal-ridden Republican who then lost big in the general election to current Gov. Beshear.

More recently, McConnell used his power to cut off fundraising to Hall of Fame pitcher and Sen. Jim Bunning, deeming him unelectable in the 2010 Senate elections, opting instead to support Secretary of State Trey Grayson. Bunning decided not to seek reelection.
 
If the bell tolled for a Hall of Fame pitcher and veteran Senator and the first Kentucky Republican governor in 32 years, David Williams will be gone faster than you can say VLT. The clock is ticking on the heavy-handed reign of Kentucky’s current State Senate President, a man who for some reason has taken it upon himself to try and destroy Kentucky’s signature industry. Let’s hope after Tuesday’s results, Williams’ time is up.

Copyright © 2009, The Paulick Report

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Not all is well in the kingdom of David Williams, Kentucky’s State Senate President and the state’s most powerful Republican not named Mitch McConnell. Republican Senators continue to drop like horseflies as a result of Williams’ strident anti-slots view with another possible casualty coming up soon in the race between Democrat Jodie Haydon and Republican Jimmy Higdon.

As a former Republican leader, I can promise you this makes many among the party faithful nervous. An increasing number are wondering why we are choosing to die on this cross. Is this really a core Republican issue on the same par as lower taxes and less government? Shouldn’t we have a pro-economic development stance on this issue instead of obstructing growth for political purposes? And in a state that already has pari-mutuels and a state lottery, haven’t we already crossed the pro-gambling threshold anyways?

With the prospects for Republicans losing the Senate becoming more likely, conservatives in Kentucky are increasingly concerned about the consequences. Even more important than not controlling a single branch of state government, the redrawing of the US Congressional districts will be done by the Senate. If Democrats have control, they will change the make up of the Kentucky coalition of Congressmen for the foreseeable future. Most maddening, this all could have been avoided if David Williams hadn’t decided to put all his eggs in this fringe issue’s basket. This is the problem with the modern Republican party; we spend too much time on 50/50 divisive issues like gay marriage and slots at racetracks and don’t concentrate on important "kitchen table" policy that people really want to hear about.

My former organization, with no prodding from yours truly, sent out an interesting email last night asking a few simple questions about the gaming issue. That in itself is not a huge deal, but the wording and sources cited make it clear that at least from the big city Louisville Republican perspective, Bill Farish’s hope for a palace revolt may not be too far behind. Not only do they lay out the case for slots in Kentucky, but they use the facts page from KEEP, an organization most recently known for promoting expanded gaming in the Bluegrass State.

Having been on the receiving end of many disgruntled phone calls after the Senate debacle this summer, I can tell you the Louisville natives are restless. I was able to fully use my voice on this issue once I left my position as chairman. It’s good to see the wind of change are allowing the Jefferson County Republican Party to begin speaking out as well.

- Bradford Cummings

AN EMAIL DISTRIBUTED BY THE JEFFERSON COUNTY REPUBLICAN PARTY
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When people think about Kentucky they think about horses, and the Kentucky Derby.  The horse industry employs over 100,000 people, and is Kentucky’s largest agricultural cash crop.  To learn more about the economic impact of the horse industry in Kentucky go to: www.horseswork.com/facts.htm.

But the horse industry in Kentucky is in trouble. Our racing stables and breeding stock are being moved to other states.  The reason is simple economics.  These competing states are subsidizing their thoroughbred industries with the proceeds from slot machines.  These subsidies help them to attract racehorses from Kentucky with higher purses, and studs and brood mares with incentives for horses foaled in that state, and are seriously undermining the preeminence of Kentucky’s horse industry.   The importance of the horse industry to Kentucky is undeniable.  The question is how we maintain our competitiveness with subsidized racing and breeding in other states. 

Tell us what you think.  Respond to our survey on this issue at www.louisvillegop.com. 

By Ray Paulick
There were several byproducts of the Kentucky General Assembly’s special session called last month by Gov. Steve Beshear to tackle the state’s budget crisis and consider a bill to allow video lottery terminals or slot machines at racetracks.

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