Sunday, March 02, 2008

Kentucky Enquirer takes note of legislators dissappearing off Frankfort committees when they vote the wrong way

Pat Crowley in today's Kentucky Enquirer covered my comments regarding the Kentucky House Democrats handling of casino legislation last week:
You know it was a wild week in Frankfort when the conservative Family Foundation is quoting the Mob.

Last week's committee votes on the casino gaming constitutional amendment captured much of the attention and news in Frankfort this past week. The bill was dead after it failed to garner enough votes Tuesday morning. One of the opponents was Rep. Dottie Sims, a Democrat.

Sims was quickly dismissed from the committee by House Speaker Jody Richards, who then re-stacked the committee with lawmakers favorable to his version of the bill. The legislation passed and is now headed to the House floor.

Cothran, a senior policy analyst for the Family Foundation, used references from "The Godfather" to slam Richards in a press released entitled, "Dottie Sims sleeps with the fishes."

"House members who vote against this measure beware," Cothran said. "You might wake up to find a horse's head under your sheets - most likely a thoroughbred."

Cothran referenced not only one of the most shocking and notable scenes in the history of American cinema, but he also took a shot at Kentucky's race industry, which opposes Richards' version of the amendment.

"Too much more of this," Cothran said, "and the casino lobby is going to have to change its motto from 'Let the people decide' to 'We're going to make you an offer you can't refuse.' "

The only correction I would have is that I certainly didn't intend, and don't think you could derive from the press release, that I took a shot at the horse industry, although you could take it as a shot at the Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP), which is still supporting the legislation despite the fact that it sells the horse industry down the river.

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