More divisiveness...'Misleading And Inaccurate Critique': HISA Chairman Strikes

[Grandstand Handicapper]

https://paulickreport.com/news/ray-s-paddock/misleading-and-inaccurate-critique-hisa-chairman-strikes-back-at-churchill-downs-ceo

HIS Chairman strikes back. I am no fan of CDI. They think they are too big to make a mistake? LOL.

[The Answer]

When the government gets involved costs go through the roof. HISA costs are unsustainable for harness racing.

[Dingus]

When the government gets involved costs go through the roof. HISA costs are unsustainable for harness racing.

I can guarantee virtually no one in harness racing will pay anywhere near $462 per start.

[Harness Racing Revolution]

When the government gets involved costs go through the roof. HISA costs are unsustainable for harness racing.

What's the difference? Since when does harness racing use money it's generated itself to pay for anything?

[Grandstand Handicapper]

When the government gets involved costs go through the roof. HISA costs are unsustainable for harness racing.

I normally would agree with you. Government bureaucracy, inefficiency, ineptness, and more. Absolutely agree. However, I see this situation and infrastructure as very different. First, remember, HISA is a private, self-regulatory organization. That's important to recognize. As such, operationally and administratively they function autonomously. Second, they are empowered by the Federal Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020 and operate under the guise and governance of the Federal Trade Commission; all with the common mission being to propose and enforce rules and regulations related to safety and anti-doping aspects of the sport. Interesting that it's authorized to do all the things that the USTA now claims they can do and have been doing all along, LOL. OK, nevermind, LOL.

Their first safety program and regulations went into effect in July 2022, and their first anti-doping regulations and enforcement didn't begin May 2023. I still feel much of what was attempted, was derailed by the legal challenges and lawsuits, but anyone can argue that until the cows come home. HISA's jurisdiction and governance will cover races and racetracks that involve any aspects of interstate commerce, including OTB/OTW/ADW/etc., AND the horses and horsemen of this sport and industry. I am a supporter of HISA. I've attended the open/public meetings, I've listen to all of the speeches and interviews, and I like the plan and the direction they are going in. I don't think they've done everything perfect. Nobody does. However, I do think they've done a very good job in a short period of time, and yes, with hiccups along the way.

When the time comes for HISA to collect money from the harness racing industry-----let's see what the costs and the numbers are then. They've already revised and amended cost structures for the t-breds. We will see what it is then. Until then, it's far too premature and it's simply numbers at this point. Statistics don't lie, but statisticians do, LOL.

Also, while Louisiana Congressman Clay Higgins will disagree with anything and everything have to do with HISA and HIWU and Drug Free Sport International-----except abolishing them, LOL-----I get the opposition. I am all for it. Someone wins and someone loses. But after they lose, when the losers start to sabotage what the winners are trying to do, that's cannibalism. Nobody wins. Everybody loses. Higgins wants a new organization. Of course he does, the National HBPA and the USTA helped draft the bill. I get it. But when it doesn't fly, play the hand that's been dealt to you. Don't ruin the game for everyone.

[Grandstand Handicapper]

I can guarantee virtually no one in harness racing will pay anywhere near $462 per start.

I don't think it will end up anywhere near that figure.

[Yonkers1A]

There’s nothing worse than a quasi Government agency.

[Grandstand Handicapper]

When the government gets involved costs go through the roof. HISA costs are unsustainable for harness racing.

BTW, while the #'s the opponents are throwing around today are not sustainable, and I agree with you on that, when the time comes, I believe the cost structure will be very different.....and I think everyone will contribute. It won't just be the tracks. It will be the tracks, the owners, the trainers, and other parties as well. I also think there will be government and state money, and no, I don't see it as a subsidy. Is the monies the Federal government gives to Halliburton a subsidy? Halliburton is certainly self-sufficient, and then some! LOL. Is a tax credit a subsidy? A tax rebate or abatement? I see tax credits, expenditures, breaks, and the like-----whether the recipient is self-sufficient or not-----as incentives, aid, benefits, assistance, subventions, and more, all designed to further strengthen and enhance an industry and the participants.

Yes, if the recipient is not self-sufficient, that begs numerous other questions and discussions. I am all for our sport and industry being self-sufficient. I just question what the definition of that is. Is the auto industry self-sufficient? Airlines? Shipbuilding? There at types of government expenditures that are supposed to further, enhance, others to protect and stabilize, and others that can help build an industry and economy. This financial support is for not just businesses, but individuals, households, and industries.

I don't like the current state of affairs on subsidies that this sport and industry gets, and needs. But I am for the sire states, which is also a form of subsidy in the purest sense. I am also one that would demand the sport and industry does for itself, does the best they can, and then gets assistance, not to make it self-sufficient, but to make it competitive. When people simply say subsidies are bad because without them the sport and industry won't survive, that's fine. But I still say those people aren't contributing anything other than saying today is Thursday. But, remember, it's not Thursday everywhere in the world right now. LOL.

[Grandstand Handicapper]

There’s nothing worse than a quasi Government agency.

I would normally agree with you. But I don't feel it's always the case.

United States Postal Service.....Bad.

Federal Reserve.....Good, but needs improvement. LOL.