NY Times blasts NYS OTB...

[Buckpasser]

Some key points made, however they disrespect the horse player in making them.


EDITORIAL:
The Off-Track Betting Mess

Published: August 3, 2009

As everyone who has ever bought a chip knows, there is only one sure way to make money gambling: own the house. So how is it that New York City’s off-track gambling parlors are nearly bankrupt? These seedy, storefront operations take in almost $1 billion a year, yet the New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation is about $46 million in debt. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo — or somebody with subpoena power — needs to investigate how operations that should be able to help keep the state afloat manage to lose so much money instead.

Investigating OTB operations in New York State will be like digging into a toxic swamp, but here’s the place to start: politicians have used these betting parlors for years to house friends and family who needed jobs. They are patronage nests. And the extra layers particularly infuriate those in the horse-racing business in New York State because they siphon off profit that is supposed to go to the Saratoga, Belmont and Aqueduct racetracks, which really need it.

During a recent interview with The Saratogian newspaper, Charles Hayward, president of the New York Racing Association, described the problem succinctly. “Racing in New York could be profitable if we just solved the OTB problem,” he said. “They really have become places where good local politicians are sent to max out their pensions.”

Gov. David Paterson has made an attempt to address this scandal. He established a task force to look at the inefficiencies at the six corporations that run off-site betting operations across the state. But each of these places has political angels that will fight against any loss of patronage jobs.

Gambling is destructive enough in the way it cleans out the pockets of too many people who need every dollar. When these parlors don’t make enough money to pay for themselves — much less help the state’s horse-racing industry — they are a drag on everybody. Mayor Michael Bloomberg wisely stopped New York City from subsidizing these dreary establishments. Governor Paterson must also make sure not a single taxpayer dollar is going to keep New York City’s gambling dens alive.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/04/op...ml?ref=opinion