Comments on Advance Indiana™: Ballard Now Pushing Regional Alcohol Tax To Finance CIB Bailout

AI, Put the Horse Racing Commission and the Gaming...

2009-05-18T15:09:00.000-05:00

AI,
Put the Horse Racing Commission and the Gaming Commission together and see which one learned from whom about secret meetings, self dealing, self gratification of folks helping themselves.

Some of these people have been lawyers, jurists and prosecutors and they still think they are above the law.

The law is simply written to protect the wealthy and not necessarily the innocent.

Gary, can you get a copy of one of the letters sen...

2009-05-18T10:10:00.000-05:00

Gary, can you get a copy of one of the letters sent to city contractors asking for a shakedown...I mean contribution?

As a Republican, Ed Coleman did not ignore his duty to review the CIB. He was stripped of his committee assignments for wanting to dig into the CIB budget in late 2008.

RE-ELECT ED COLEMAN!

Unigov, the owners of the Shelbyville race track r...

2009-05-18T06:59:00.000-05:00

Unigov, the owners of the Shelbyville race track resorted to subterfuge to win its license from the state. It was well-documented in the local media how the Chairman of the Horse Racing Commission had close ties to the owners and had been secretly meeting with them in ex-parte meetings to plot out how to get their license awarded. The U.S. Attorney's office decided to look the other way despite overwhelming evidence the awarding of the license had been completely corrupted.

Funny how Ballard and Kenley both think that becau...

2009-05-18T06:32:00.000-05:00

Funny how Ballard and Kenley both think that because a particular tax hasn't been raised lately, that it should be...like it's the only fair thing to do.

Advance - great point on the expansion of gambling ! Step 1, grant horseracing licenses to insiders. Step 2, create a massive budget deficit. Step 3 - convert horse tracks into full casinos.

In doing this, sure the new casinos generate a ton of tax money, but they also generate a ton of new profits.

Harrison Ullmann of Nuvo used to say Indiana had the worst state legislature in the nation, but doubters could always point to Louisiana and New Jersey. I think we're serious contenders for the #1 rank in corruption, overall, now, adding in the gambling, sports, construction, etc.

My guess is that Ballard is falling for the mistak...

2009-05-17T22:24:00.000-05:00

My guess is that Ballard is falling for the mistake a lot of novice elected officials fall for - assuming if they raise enough money, they can overcome any negative impression the public may have of their performance in office. There are times out there when a politician is viewed as such a failure in the eyes of the public that no amount of money in the world can change that perception. Ballard is well on his way to people having that view of him.

I am troubled by the notion that the Ballard administration continues to shake down city contractors for campaign contribution. There is only one small step between that and illegal pay for play schemes that we saw in Illinois.

I would be surprised if there aren't high-ranking people in the Ballard adminstration prosecuted before this is all over. While Brizzi has shown no interest in public corruption, his successor, who will likely be a Democrat, may not be so kind to overlook the transgressions from a Republican Mayor.