Is Christie’s reelection inevitable?

Governor Christie will be in Aberdeen today to accept the endorsement of the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA) for his reelection bid.

Before wingnut conservatives get all crestfallen or disgusted, let me remind you that the Teamsters endorsed Ronald Reagan.   A labor union’s endorsement doesn’t automatically make that Republican a RINO, unless you consider Reagan a RINO.

Yes, this means that New Jersey is not likely to become a “Right to Work” state so long as Christie is governor,  It also means that we will continue to overpay “prevailing wage” on government funded and supported construction projects. As our friends at InTheLobby point out, it also explains why Christie has thwarted efforts to expand legalized gambling in New Jersey to race tracks, but those are all other stories.

What the LIUNA endorsement really means is that New Jersey Democrats are not likely to make a fight of the gubernatorial campaign in 2013.  Christie’s post Sandy poll numbers make him look invincible.  By locking up a major union endorsement early, Christie is creating an air of inevitability for reelection.

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Atlantic City’s winning formula

Is anyone surprised that New Jersey’s efforts to revitalize Atlantic City are failing?

The news that AC’s latest hope for revival, Revel, is on the verge of bankruptcy and foreclosure is no shock.   As Trump’s multiple bankruptcies over the years demonstrated, casino lenders are the biggest losers, next to bussed in seniors lured by a free roll of quarters, in AC.

Vice has always been the key to Atlantic City’s economic viability.  For good reason.  The place is a dump.  You have to drive through a swamp to get there.   It is very inconvenient.  The lure of doing something enjoyable that is forbidden elsewhere has been the key to Atlantic City’s economy since the days of Nucky Thompson.

Now that legalized gambling is available in more convenient places and liquor is legal most everywhere, Atlantic City is doomed, unless it comes up with a new vice to make available.

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Exodus of Perretti Farms Stallions Creates Challenge for New Jersey’s Horse Racing Future

MANALAPAN,  NJ – November 30, 2012 — The loss of New Jersey stallions to slots-enriched  programs in other states is now a reality.

Perretti  Farms in Cream Ridge, NJ has announced that it has moved two of the harness  racing industry’s premier stallions to Pennsylvania for the 2013 breeding  season.

Muscles  Yankee and Rocknroll Hanover will be relocated from Perretti’s 1,000 acres of  prime farmland in Upper Freehold Township across the state line to Newtown, PA  to take advantage of the casino-enriched purses in Pennsylvania, especially the  Pennsylvania Sire Stakes program.

The  New Jersey Sire Stakes program, which for three decades was the model for other  states and provinces, is now one of the weakest because of the paucity of purse  money.

New  Jersey is no longer competitive, putting more than 170,000 acres of equine  farmland in jeopardy,” said Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association  President Tom Luchento.  “Without a healthy breeding program, the stallions  and broodmares will move – have moved — to adjoining states where they are  flushed with the cash from casinos and racinos [racetracks with casino-style  wagering].

“Not  only is the preservation of farmland at stake, but also more than 10,000 jobs  currently filled by tax-paying residents who are ill-equipped to change careers  and will end up on welfare rolls,” Luchento added.

Trenton  continues to focus on ways to improve Atlantic City and other businesses which  provide fewer jobs, while the horseracing industry gets pushed aside,” Luchento  said.  “They have tried to Band-Aid the problem with a few short term  solutions.  Meanwhile, the wound continues to grow, and the decision by  Perretti Farms is a pure product of that injury.

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Oceanport Councilman Joe Irace’s remarks to the Assembly Regulartory Oversight and Gaming Committee, July 19, 2012

Chairman Ramos, and members of the Assembly Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee, thank you for inviting me to speak before you today on this

important topic. I am Oceanport Councilman Joseph Irace.

When the State of New Jersey voted to allow casino gambling in Atlantic City in 1976, it marked the dawn of an era wherein, for close to a decade and a half, New Jersey had a de facto monopoly on casino gambling on the East Coast.  That era ended in 1992 with the advent of  Foxwoods Resort Casino.  In the years since then, we have seen a steady encroachment upon Atlantic City’s position as the premier East Coast destination for casino type gambling.  New York, Connecticut, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland now offer substantial gaming options to the general public. Indeed, as of April of 2012, Pennsylvania’s gaming industry was second only to that of Las Vegas. Quite clearly, the landscape has changed immeasurably since 1976 and New Jersey’s stranglehold on the East Coast gaming industry is no more.  This isn’t an Atlantic City gaming industry problem, it is a New Jersey business development and retention problem.

Similarly, three decades ago, the State of New Jersey was a pre-eminent player in the horseracing industry.  The Meadowlands, Freehold Raceway, Monmouth Park, Atlantic City Race Course and Garden State Park — the latter three called the “Golden Triangle” of New Jersey racing — all offered top notch, stakes level horse racing at quality venues.  As we are all aware, the New Jersey horseracing industry has suffered setbacks over the past few decades and the root of these setbacks can be traced to the same source as that which has negatively impacted on Atlantic City.  New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and West Virginia have all committed to the Racino business model and this has placed the State of New Jersey’s horseracing industry at a decided disadvantage.  Again, this isn’t a horseracing industry problem, it is a New Jersey business development and retention problem.

For far too long now, New Jersey’s gaming industry and New Jersey’s horse racing industry circled each other warily as opponents.  It is high time that they stop viewing each other as competitors and start viewing themselves as comrades at arms with a singular purpose: melding both industries in such a fashion that New Jersey once again becomes the East Coast’s premier gaming AND horse racing destination.  Based on the revenues generated by Racinos in the surrounding states and across the nation, the question of whether or not these two industries can co-exist, and indeed THRIVE, is no longer arguable.  Quite simply, if New Jersey’s gaming and horse-racing industries fail to embrace this new business model, both will perish and the State of New Jersey will be lesser for it.

Our elected officials and both industries need to stop thinking parochially and start thinking globally.  The infrastructure, manpower and talent are already in place.  We just need the desire and commitment to get this done, and get it done sooner rather than later.  The State of New Jersey has waited long enough to get its act together.  The states that have already embraced the Racino business model have demonstrated that what is good for the horseracing industry is good for the gaming industry and vice versa.  More importantly, what’s good for those industries is also good for all of New Jersey. 

I implore our legislators to make every effort to convince these two parties that it is imperative that they stop competing with each other and start complementing each other in order to re-capture the hearts, minds and loyalty of their consumers. If the gaming and horse racing industries fail to adapt to the new paradigm, neither will survive.  And that won’t be a gaming or horse racing problem — that will be a tragedy for the State of New Jersey.

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