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I'd rather my money go to the hardworking folks in racing.Schools already waste most of what I give them.Slot playing is a losers game for Asians and oxygen tankers. Road and bridge builders get plenty. Too many involved are shovel leaners. Social security and unemployment payments aren't scrutinized well enough to give more.
no sir I am making money from the purses. The deadbeats make money from the government handouts. Did you forget they signed the contract??
Major Philadelphia publications, most notably The Philadelphia Inquirer, have taken strong, explicit editorial stances supporting the complete elimination of Pennsylvania’s horse racing subsidies.The state's Race Horse Development Fund—which has directed over $3.5 billion in slot-machine tax revenues to prop up racing purses and breeding incentives since 2004—has been a frequent target of the Inquirer’s editorial board and investigative team.The arguments put forward by Philadelphia media and local policy advocates highlight the primary reasons for ending these payouts:1. The Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board PositionIn a series of scathing editorials, The Philadelphia Inquirer became one of the first major metro newspapers in the country to call for the horse racing industry to be "put out of its misery" by shutting off the flow of corporate welfare.The Core Argument: The Inquirer argues that the state has created an upside-down set of budget priorities. They point out that hundreds of millions of dollars are funneled annually to a dying, niche sport to pad the pockets of wealthy horse owners (many of whom live out of state), while essential public needs go completely underfunded. The Shift to Animal Welfare: The paper's stance intensified following an investigative series detailing high horse-mortality rates, doping scandals, and illegal contraband found at Pennsylvania tracks like Parx Racing (located just outside Philly in Bensalem). The editorial board concluded that taxpayers should not be forced to bankroll a sport mired in animal cruelty and regulatory failure.2. Pitting "Horses vs. Students"Philadelphia media heavily covered former Governor Tom Wolf’s recurring legislative push to divert $200 million annually from the horse racing fund to pay for the Nellie Bly Scholarship Program. This program would have provided tuition assistance to 44,000 students attending Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) schools. Local coverage frequently cited data showing that Pennsylvania was subsidizing racehorses at three times the rate it was investing in actual college students. Regional education advocates utilized Philly media platforms to highlight that while local students were taking on crushing debt, a single winning horse owner could take home a $56,000 purse on a single race funded entirely by casino tax dollars.3. Diverting Subsidies to Mass Transit (SEPTA)More recently, local discourse in Philadelphia has centered on the state’s massive public transit crisis. With the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) facing massive multi-million-dollar budget deficits, forced service cuts, and fare hikes, local op-eds and policy columns have argued that the $200+ million allocated to horse racing should be redirected to keep trains and buses running. The prevailing argument in the Philadelphia press is that mass transit serves millions of working-class residents daily, whereas horse racing attendance has plummeted to the point where tracks don't even bother charging admission, making the ongoing subsidy economically unjustifiable.
You are a biased person. What do you think the vote would be if it was put to a referendum?
