No BC Talk

[MIKE CAMPBELL]

That reminds me of the Trump backers [I voted for him before..[NO WAY now] You bring up one of his transgressions and they say oh well, Hillary did this, Clinton did that, Hunter did this,  or they all do it.  Well , fact is harness 'IS' being fueled by those subsidies and not by your 'HANDLE'. I've lived thru the entire cards of 2-3 k purses here in Ohio before they got the slot $$. If they take it away, they'll be right back there here and in alot of places. Horseman like you will be forced to make life decisions.

When you start up your Chevy, Ford or Chrysler today. if you're not too old to drive, just remember, those companies were all rescued from extinction by government handouts.

[Bitter Truth]

Sorry, didn't mean to imply that you are a Trump supporter..Meant to say ' They' give those rebuttals. Yes, like most on here, I'm old..Not quite that old..Just was going to the track pretty young. I would say to you: Cars are vital...Harness racing is not!

[MIKE CAMPBELL]

Sorry, didn't mean to imply that you are a Trump supporter..Meant to say ' They' give those rebuttals. Yes, like most on here, I'm old..Not quite that old..Just was going to the track pretty young. I would say to you: Cars are vital...Harness racing is not!

The point was all companies take subsidies if they can. You bashed Jeff Gural as being a self imposed savior(your words) but his purses are fueled by HANDLE. Something you fail to understand since you are in Ohio where there isn't any.

[MIKE CAMPBELL]

The difference is 99% of the general public (a/k/a voters) could care less if harness racing existed. They would rather those dollars go to other things so their taxes do not go up. That day is coming.

Very true but until that day arrives, handouts are needed to survive.

[dinkadoo]

I'll watch the replays this week for the finals. I stay away from elims ---

Did see on Saturday.s 5.25 hour card that out of the 15 races.......

Only 2 winners were further back than third ( the third place horse was Confederate, the other 12 races horses were on the lead or sat second ) at the top of the stretch. Essentially the race was already over at the 3/8ths pole. No movement.
pretty exciting for any newcomers.

[Calhoun]

Very true but until that day arrives, handouts are needed to survive.

If you're 5 Foot 3 and weigh 300 pounds, my taxes ought not pay for your bags of fudge rounds.

Welfare is Welfare

[MIKE CAMPBELL]

If you're 5 Foot 3 and weigh 300 pounds, my taxes ought not pay for your bags of fudge rounds.

Welfare is Welfare

Listen Einstein, your fight is with the politicians that approve the welfare and not the recipients.

[Bitter Truth]

Self imposed savior..You bet your ass those were my words..And 'HE' moans about losing $$ with your handle and apparently the admiitedly highest handle in harness racing gets you just above Batavia..HANDLE

[MIKE CAMPBELL]

What you need to understand is those handouts will go away at some point. In PA, well over 80% of purses comes from subsidies. Every time there isn't enough money in the budget for roads, bridges, and schools, the politicians look at that money. Eventually they are going to take it. It is probably already too late but harness racing better figure out how to support itself before that happens.

Also, most tracks are now owned by casino companies. The keep racing because the are required to. If that requirement was rescinded, what do you think would happen?

Ask yourself what would happen if this issue was put on the ballot. Do you think people would vote for harness racing or for using the money for roads, bridges, and schools (and not raise their taxes). The industry must wake up or it will wake up and find a $10,000 purse is less than $2,000.

An industry cannot exit long-term without customers and harness racing has turned its back on its customers.

I agreed with you.

[MIKE CAMPBELL]

Self imposed savior..You bet your ass those were my words..And 'HE' moans about losing $$ with your handle and apparently the admiitedly highest handle in harness racing gets you just above Batavia..HANDLE

Batavia purses are fueled by a casino. The Meadowlands is not.

[Brown jug]

the amount of subsidy given to harness racing to keep Americans employed and off welfare is a one one thousand( or less) of the dollars your government has sent to the man who wears sweat pants in the Ukraine
any idea where those billions have gone, any accounting for who gets it ....nope

a little cash going to harness racing is not going to change the balance of power anywhere
let it be and enjoy

[Brown jug]

true, so do those also
its all just monopoly money

all the covid money
'all the money going to Ukraine and other assorted third world shit holes
it never gets paid back , just kick the can down the road
so why should harness racing suffer, a sport that keeps people employed and that people genuinely love

and stop the obsession with how few people are at the live track , how many people are at the online poker site, how many at the amazon store, correct the answer is zero
things have changed, business models are different today

[MIKE CAMPBELL]

What most of you knowitalls don't realize is that the harness racing "handouts" come from either a casino or government and is state sanctioned, not federal. In other words, why the fuck should some yahoo from Ohio bash The Meadowlands and Jeff Gural. The only people that have a dog in that fight are NJ residents, as the last time I checked, Ohio wasn't sending any aid to NJ harness racing.

[Brown jug]

thanks alsoeligible
 if in fact  the purses etc are funded by slots than i say great, fantastic, so it should be
remember that was the tax the casinos had to pay to open  up on the racetrack sites, people keep forgetting that

[Stan durbread]

Ask yourself what would happen if this issue was put on the ballot. Do you think people would vote for harness racing or for using the money for roads, bridges, and schools (and not raise their taxes). The industry must wake up or it will wake up and find a $10,000 purse is less than $2,000.

If you are going to ask this ballot question at least get the facts straight

The question would be. Would you prefer the $$ to go to local agriculture if to some casino owner in another part of the world?