I was a bit surprised to see this full page ad in my Indianapolis Star this morning. It is an advertisement for a new casino opening in Shelbyville (20-30 minutes east of Indianapolis). Stunningly, it uses the style of Barack Obama's campaign (including Obama silhouette) to sell it. Picture below the fold.
Look at this:
I found this to be in poor taste, and a cynical attempt to cash in on our president's popularity. The funny thing to me is that this ad is targeted to heavily Democratic Marion county, and the casino resides in heavily Republican Shelby county.
Considering that this so-called "racino" (racetrack-casino) is gasping for air before it even launches, I suppose they're grasping at straws. A bill, heavily backed by the gambling lobby, is rolling through the Indiana Statehouse to give tax breaks to casinos, with a special emphasis on this very type of casino. The racinos themselves were risky investments, as reported by this story in the Louisville Courier-Journal:
The proposal comes less than a year after Hoosier Park Racing & Casino in Anderson and Indiana Live Casino in Shelbyville opened casino operations, and roughly two years after lawmakers authorized the tracks to each install up to 2,000 slot machines.
The 2007 law required the tracks to pay $250 million in state licensing fees -- money each had to borrow -- and to invest at least $100 million in their facilities.
With the economy slowing down, the casinos are looking at a lot less money coming into their coffers. This leads to our own bailout controversy. This is on top of our local sports franchises soaking us for more funds, while schools are trimming staff, services and supplies.