“Maybe We Can Build Our Own Racetrack”

Magna Entertainment, which owns the Maryland Jockey Club, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  The Jockey Club owns not only Laurel Race Track and Pimlico Race track, but also the rights to the Preakness itself.

If they go under, they will sell their assets, including the Preakness, which might then be moved out of state.  But Senate President Mike Miller won’t let that happen.

Once again, he’s floating the idea of the State building its own “super track” for racing in Baltimore.  He would have the state purchase the rights to the Preakness from Magna, and run the Preakness at the state-owned track.  He also said it might be necessary for the state of Maryland to skip over Pimlico, and build its own racetrack.

What’s the thinking here?  That the state can do a better job, and make money where Magna failed?  “Well, those people don’t know how to run a racetrack.  But Mike Miller surely does.”    More likely, the thought is that the business will still run in the red, but the taxpayers can pick up the slack.

Does this make sense to anybody? (As much as the US government placing itself as the guarantor of automotive warranties, I suppose.)

Miller, by the way,  has his office in the Mike Miller Senate Office Building — yes, it’s named after him.  I wonder how many State office buildings are named after living office holders — and how many of those are politicians who are still serving in office.  That has to be some kind of a record, outside of small Third World countries with imperious dictators.  Apparently, that’s not enough.

I think he’s envisioning the “Miller Preakness Stakes” at the “Mike Miller Race Track” now.  And Imperial Government continues to gain power.

Explore posts in the same categories: Budget and Taxes, Edifice Complex, Maryland

Tags: Mike Miller, Preakness

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