So Arlington Park is closing, and with it goes big-time tax revenues and jobs, not only to Arlington Heights but the state as well.
But this is only the beginning, as the loss of this structure spells a certain demise for all of Illinois racing. I won’t bore you with the statistics as to the amount of money and jobs, but ask your state representatives and senators–I’m sure they must know. After all, they are the ones who ignored every study known that clearly shows the negative impact of casino gambling on every facet of the economy.
They are the ones who let the casinos open at a ridiculous “take” and a few years later openly bemoaned that “we didn’t know that the rate of gambling would be so high that we should have asked for more.” They would have gotten more money by licensing Ma and Pa Kettle with a rowboat and a pair of dice and sending them out on the Chicago River and demanding 50 percent.
Now after the state lottery and casinos, both with waning revenues as predicted by the studies they ignored, the schools are still “struggling.” Put racing back on an even playing field with the casinos; try in-home wagering on interactive TV; lower the take on a tried and true source of revenue over decades (not three years); and do your best to save this sport and the jobs it creates, and maybe when Johnny comes home in a few years and still can’t read, you will have more to say than “I shoulda, woulda, coulda.”
