Sanity on the slots debate

"100,000 jobs and $4 billon." The slots promoters have been throwing these numbers around so often and so loudly that Kentuckians now know them by heart. These are the total number of jobs and money that they say will be lost if we are not scared enough to give in and support casinos in Kentucky.

But nothing good ever resulted from actions made out of fear, especially fear based on exaggeration. First, if they really want to stick to those numbers they will be admitting, absolutely admitting, that Kentucky's horse industry has grown exponentially since 2002, about the time that other states' racinos began.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Authority's 2004-2005 Biennial Report states: "According to a 2002 study by the Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky, the horse industry generates over 31,800 jobs and had a total economic impact estimated at $1.77 billion."Therefore, according to the pro-casino camp, Kentucky has actually managed to triple the number of jobs and more than double the economic impact of our signature industry despite the arrival of racino competition in other states.

Of course, the more likely scenario is that they grossly exaggerated the real state of the industry as part of their propaganda campaign to rile emotional fervor for casinos to a fever pitch.

Now, I don't deny that our horse industry needs assistance. I am sure most Kentuckians would want to help Kentucky's breeding and racing industries, which is a policy matter for the legislature to decide. Once decided in the affirmative, the issue becomes one of funding, of how best to support them.

Casino-style gambling options like VLTs are but one option, and by far the worst for the long run. First, to pursue this poverty-inducing enterprise now, in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, is a gross failure of vision and leadership.

Second, they amount to a voluntary tax, one paid disproportionately by the poor. Long term, they will destroy economies around the country, just as the main gambling activity, lotteries, did in the late 1800s.

If the state needs more money to fund breeder and racing incentives, the legislature need only do so through the traditional tried-and-true methods that best preserve our long-term welfare.

Tax reform that makes Kentucky's tax system more progressive would help. Perhaps adding a small sales tax, say 3 percent, to out-of-state buyers at Kentucky's world-leading horse sales would bring in much needed revenue without hurting the industry (currently we get nothing).

The point is that we must look coolly, objectively and accurately at the totality of issues surrounding our whole economy, a major part of which includes the horse industry. Only then can we assure ourselves of ideal solutions that will lead to the best overall long-term outcome.