...only now, people's jobs are apparently in danger, because casino gambling is baaaad, hmmkay?
A plan to rescue the struggling Texas horse racing industry could end up killing live racing at Retama Park.This is something to keep in mind when Rick Perry and the Republicans in the Texas Legislature talk about Texas being a great place for job creation. Apparently not all legal industries are welcome here. I don't think allowing casino gambling is going to be any kind of panacea to what ails the Texas job market, but the last thing we need to be doing is creating an environment in which we lose jobs to bordering states because a vocal minority of Texans doesn't want it. I know there are more factors at play here, including the influence from those border states who want those Texas dollars to keep coming to them instead of staying here, but the opposition of Rick Perry and the Republicans in the Texas Legislature doesn't help matters.
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Under the plan, Retama and Sam Houston Race Park would give up live thoroughbred racing for one year in 2011 by transferring their dates and purse funds to the state's largest Class I track, Lone Star Park, in order to establish a single, 65-day schedule next year at the Grand Prairie facility.
Texas racing officials say the plan would increase daily purses to about $280,000 at Lone Star, boosting efforts to make it more competitive with tracks in Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma that offer gaming options — such as slot machines — not available under Texas law.
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