Comments on Advance Indiana™: Does Funding CIB Bailout With Gambling Dollars Make It Different?

It is awfully convenient that the owner of the Can...

2009-05-12T22:17:00.000-05:00

It is awfully convenient that the owner of the Canucks creates a beneficial rumor for the owners of the Pacers. Sports owners are their own fraternity, aren't they?

Here's a suggestion - set up one-armed-bandits in ...

2009-05-12T21:33:00.000-05:00

Here's a suggestion - set up one-armed-bandits in place of parking meters downtown and raise the minimum fee to $1. Folks pay more to park, but they get a chance to win something too. Plus it'll help out area businesses. People will be pouring out of the woodwork to park on a downtown street. They'll be coming in on public transportation just to feed the meters.

Ogden for Mayor

2009-05-12T16:59:00.000-05:00

Ogden for Mayor

So the CIB insiders have gambling interests, huh? ...

2009-05-12T13:19:00.000-05:00

So the CIB insiders have gambling interests, huh? Why doesn't that surprise?

Don't forget that CIB Board member Craig Huse owns...

2009-05-12T12:50:00.000-05:00

Don't forget that CIB Board member Craig Huse owns stock in Centaur, the owner of the Anderson horse race track. Another CIB Board member, Doug Brown, lobbies for Indiana Downs.

I wonder if maybe the downtown casino idea isn't c...

2009-05-12T11:25:00.000-05:00

I wonder if maybe the downtown casino idea isn't coming from the insiders.
First
Rex Early has an ownership stake in Indiana Live and the Indiana Downs. Pat Early's son Barton Early recently hired on at Indiana Live in a management position.
Also, if Indiana Live didn't respond to calls you can call Mark Hemmerle the general manager at 392-7777 or cell 421-8201

Gambling is often considered a tax on the poor any...

2009-05-12T10:47:00.000-05:00

Gambling is often considered a tax on the poor anyway, as poorer less educated people are more likely to spend larger percentages of their income at casinos.

A corollary to the gambling suggestion is when gov...

2009-05-12T08:58:00.000-05:00

A corollary to the gambling suggestion is when government considers a tax increase and says it's for a good cause. For example, a tax on soda to fund health care:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124208505896608647.html

A tax on soda doesn't fund anything in particular, cause the government can allocate money however it sees fit. All a tax on soda does is increase taxes...if such a tax raises $10 billion a year and the government wastes $10 billion a year on various things, the better solution is to cut the waste to fund health care. Not raise taxes.

Government is no longer government, it is a self-serving economic entity unto itself. Think of government in those terms and suddenly the CIB and the "life sciences" initiatives make sense.

PP, The city gets 0% of the revenue off of the bu...

2009-05-12T07:11:00.000-05:00

PP,

The city gets 0% of the revenue off of the building. And with Lucas, the city gets only a fraction of the income off the building, not nearly enough to cover operating costs. Why would a private business venture assume the city's position with these two buildings? There certainly is no profit in doing what the city is doing.

Gary, I agree. I hate it when people jump to gambling as the "solution" to the CIB's problem. The problem is the CIB is fiscally irresponsible. How does just handing the CIB more money cure the problem?

You have a point from a secular-economic viewpoint...

2009-05-12T06:47:00.000-05:00

You have a point from a secular-economic viewpoint, but I don't see enhanced gambling as the fiancial cure-all. I would prefer the city just sell bad investment properties and get out of risky business pursuits altogether. Their bumbling of the water deal, utilities, and tripping over themselves using the bond bank at taxpayers' expense ad nauseam is indictment enough. Has anyone put a pen to what we would gain by selling off these white elephants to private enterprise?

Thank you for pointing this out ! When the new Co...

2009-05-12T06:39:00.000-05:00

Thank you for pointing this out !

When the new Colts stadium was being talked up and the restaurant tax was implemented, Blue Crew types famously explained that if anyone didn't want to pay for the stadium, they could stop eating out.

As if tax monies weren't interchangeable.