Here’s a letter to the editor I just sent to the Cincinnati Enquirer.  I hope they’ll publish it:

Dear Editor,

In Patrick Crowley’s rosy article about expanded gambling in Kentucky (“Ind. racino rakes money”), Gov. Beshear hopes that new racetrack casinos will eventually bring in $1 billion a year in revenues. This “revenue” will come from the gambling losses of average Kentuckians – nearly $250 lost by every man, woman, and child in the commonwealth. Like most Kentuckians, my wife and I support our family of five on a very tight budget. Yet our governor hopes that our family will lose $1,000 a year at his new casinos. That’s over two months worth of groceries for us! I’d certainly like to support the governor, so can he suggest two months a year when my family won’t need to eat?

Sincerely,
Micheal Hickerson

Note: Crowley’s article was headlined “Ind. racino rakes money” in the print edition of the Sunday Kentucky Enquirer.  Apparently, an editor decided that “Horse interests back racino bill” was a more accurate title. I agree, considering that the article quotes numerous horse industry officials, and doesn’t quote even a single critic of expanded gambling.  (It does quote Senate President David Williams, who favors expanded incentives for horsetrack betting, but not new forms of gambling at horsetracks.)