REPRESENTATIVE DAVID OSBORNE AND GAMBLING

Republican politicians similar to Representative David Osborne account for the reason that the Republican Party lost overall in the 2008 elections and likewise, the reason that the party is in disarray at the present time. They have quit representing the majority of the people.

Representative Osborne voted for expanded gambling this past week. I suspect that it had more to do with his ties to the horse industry and big money than to his belief about gambling. While I have not followed every vote of David Osborne, the votes that I have watched closely certainly don’t appear to be those of a conservative republican.

On the issue of expanded gambling the people are fortunate that the senate republicans are likely to kill it. The lottery was supposed to cure the ills of education and now the horse industry and the democrats want to cure the same illness again. Oh, I forgot, David Osborne wants to cure that illness too. And again, they want to do it with gambling. It seems that every time someone wants to pass an unpopular tax the education issue is used to justify the tax. Frankly, that tactic is getting old. The politicians have cried wolf too many times. By the way, when they claim that all of this money is going to be raised, just whom do they believe is going to pay the money? The money will still be coming from the people and primarily the people of Kentucky. It is disgraceful that Kentuckians would be forced to admit that they couldn’t run a state without an industry that is known for being corrupt.

As for saving the horse industry, perhaps the management of the industry should be questioned. Why shouldn’t they shoulder that blame? While the horse industry has brought a lot of attention to Kentucky it is not a “sacred cow”. As for education, the entire method of funding education in Kentucky needs to be reviewed. Don’t count on David Osborne to be a leader in that area though. That is a tough issue.