“IS IT TRUE” APRIL 1, 2019

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We hope that today’s “IS IT TRUE” will provoke honest and open dialogue concerning issues that we, as responsible citizens of this community, need to address in a rational and responsible way?

IS IT TRUE according to the Indy Star the Chairman and CEO of Spectacle Entertainment, Rod Ratcliff have contributed more than $1 million to the Republican Governors Association since 2016?   …the RGA became a financial lifeline for Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb in 2016 after his campaign got a late start and was then restricted from accessing the campaign funds of his predecessor, now-Vice President Mike Pence?

IS IT TRUE the Indy Star also reported: “that since 2016, Rod Ratcliff’s companies have given $577,500 to the Republican State Leadership Committee, a national organization that helps down-ballot statewide and legislative candidates”?  …”this group reportedly gave more than $550,000 to the campaigns of Holcomb’s lieutenant governor, Suzanne Crouch, and the Indiana House Republican Campaign Committee, which is led by House Speaker Brian Bosma”?

IS IT TRUE the Inday Star reported that “in 2005, as the owner of Hoosier Park in Anderson, Rod Ratcliff set up a charity organization amid a push to legalize slot machines at horse tracks and paid Rep. Dave Frizzell $68,000 to serve as its president”?

IS IT TRUE last week it was also reported in the Indy Star that “The flight’s tax records show the costs of Spectacle Entertainment to fly Governor Holcomb to two National Republican Conference Of Governors were about $20,000″?  … “these flights gave Spectacle Entertainment’s CEO Rod Ratcliff and his business partners hours of exclusive access to the governor”?  …”it’s a well-known fact that the Governor has final say over the plans to move two Gary casinos to more lucrative locations”? …it was also reported by the Indy Star that one of the flights was just a day before Spectacle Entertainment’s CEO Rod Ratcliff announced plans to acquire those two casinos”?

IS IT TRUE that the Indy Star reported: “that the Chairman and CEO of Spectacle Entertainment, Rod Ratcliff have built a career on making big bets on new gambling opportunities in Indiana”? …they Indy Star reported that Mr. Ratcliff was a driving force behind the state’s decision to legalize riverboat gambling in the 1990s and to allow slot machine casinos at horse tracks in the mid-2000s”?

IS IT TRUE the Indy Star published that In 2005, “as the owner of Hoosier Park in Anderson, Rod Ratcliff set up a charity organization amid a push to legalize slot machines at horse tracks and paid Rep. Dave Frizzell $68,000 to serve as its president”.

IS IT TRUE according to the Indy Star “in 2015 a political fundraising campaign was started by the Chairman and CEO of Spectacle Entertainment, Rod Ratcliff in order to get approval by the state to allow live table games at racinos was held at an off-track gambling parlor in Downtown Indianapolis”?  …”Spectacle Entertainment hosted more than 30 fundraisers for lawmakers”?

IS IT TRUE that the following Indiana Casino owners contributed the following amounts of money to the National Republican Governors Association in 2018?  …that Spectacle Entertainment (Majestic Star 1 and 11) donated $496,486? …Penn National-Ameristar, Hollywood Casino gave $175,000? …that Caesars-Horseshoe So Indiana, Harrah’s, Indiana Grand, Hoosier Park, and Horseshoe Hammond contributed $60,000?  …Boyd Gaming-Blue Chip, Belterra give $25,000?  …the IRS records showed that the National Republican Governor Association didn’t receive any political donations from the Eldorado Resorts, Tropicana Evansville or French Lick Casinos owners in 2018?

IS IT TRUE over the several year’s government watchdogs have expressed concerns that new amendments made to casino gaming laws were seemingly motivated by donations to the right political person or political group? …we wonder why one of these governmental watchdog groups hasn’t asked the proper enforcement authorities to look into any possible wrongdoing on anyone in the gaming business?

IS IT TRUE we wonder why members of our local state legislative delegation, Evansville Mayor Winnecke, members of City Council, Vanderburgh County Commission or County Council hasn’t publicly said one thing about the current gaming laws being amended to allow Spectacle Entertainment to open a new casino in a city just 150 miles from Evansville? …if this happens it will adversely affect the future profits of Tropicana-Evansville and the tax money the city and county receive from local gaming? …we hope the reason why our elected officials haven’t publically addressed this issue is that they are gathering facts concerning this issue and not because they received a political donation from the powers that be?

IS IT TRUE that ”Generally, accrual accounting is recognized as superior to cash accounting, as accrual accounting provides a more accurate picture of a local government’s current financial position? Under accrual, the local government must possess and report the requisite resources to meet each expense?   …this, in turn, provides a more complete picture of the fiscal situation of a local government over the course of the fiscal year?  … under cash accounting, the government can simply report revenue or expenditures as they occur, making it difficult to determine if the local government’s financial situation is truly in balance?“

IS IT TRUE as a result, local governments with unfunded liabilities could potentially hide these obligations for several years before it becomes apparent they are unable to meet them? …in addition, meeting GAAP standards requires local governments to produce government-wide financial statements under the accrual format? … failure to produce GAAP-based statements reduces the comparability of Indiana’s fiscal indicators to states that comply with GAAP, and likely will result in higher local government borrowing costs in the future.?”

Todays“Readers Poll” question is: If you’re an elected official and someone donates  $500,000 to your campaign do you feel that they expect you to do something from them?

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FOOTNOTE:  Any comments posted in this column do not represent the views or opinions of the City-County Observer or our advertisers.”READERS FORUM” 

 

 

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11 COMMENTS

  1. Anyone going to the ERC 8:30 am meeting tomorrow morning (April 2)? Will they sell the old CVS building at 800 N. Main St. for the single bid of $179,000 that the Kelly Coures DMD bought for $535,000? No telling what will happen there, since the ERC still has not provided the Agenda for their meeting 25 just short hours away:

    https://evansville.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=2

  2. ‘We’ve never seen anything like this’: As Trump threatens to close border, migrants overwhelm Texas cities

    Story Highlights

    Border Patrol agents expect to see more than 100,000 apprehensions and encounters with migrants in March, the highest monthly total in over a decade.
    Vast majority of those crossing between ports of entry turn themselves into Border Patrol agents, seeking asylum.
    On Friday, Trump threatened to close the U.S.-Mexico border if Mexico didn’t stop undocumented migrants from coming.

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/03/30/migrants-overflow-border-federal-facilities-local-strain-wall-trump/3309462002/

    • Obama’s Department of Homeland Security Chief acknowledged this weekend that there is indeed a “crisis” at the southern border and that the number of illegal aliens being apprehended by border patrol agents exceed anything he ever saw during his time in the Obama Administration….

      By anyone’s definition, by any measure, right now we have a crisis at our southern border,” said on Cavuto Saturday. “According to the commissioner of [Customs and Border Protection], there were 4,000 apprehensions in one day alone this past week, and we’re on pace for 100,000 apprehensions on our southern border this month.”

      “That is by far a greater number than anything I saw on my watch in my three years as Secretary of Homeland Security,” he said….

      President Trump recently declared a national emergency to secure funding for a border wall and both Democrats and Republicans are pushing back against the President.

      Huge caravans of Central American migrants have marched up through Mexico to the US border which has overwhelmed the asylum system — and another caravan is on the way.

      Mexico’s Interior Minster Olga Sánchez Cordero sounded the alarm Wednesday about a new caravan, dubbed “Caravana Madre” (Mother of All Caravans), forming in Honduras that could swell to 20,000 migrants trying to enter the United States after crossing Mexico, reported TGP’s Kristinn Taylor.

      https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/03/obamas-dhs-chief-jeh-johnson-admits-us-truly-in-a-crisis-at-southern-border-video/

  3. Democrats Already Turning to NEW ‘Russia’ Conspiracy: Mueller is Part of ‘Cover Up’

    For over two years, now, the Democrats have told us that Special Counsel Robert Mueller is an “honorable” man who is above reproach. But now that it looks like he is not indicting the president, his sons, or anyone in Trump’s inner circle, the Democrats are starting to throw their “honorable man” under the bus and blaming him for being part of a wide-ranging “conspiracy.”…

    But there is a more serious undercurrent among the left. One of MSNBC’s resident commentators Joy Reid, spoke the words all Democrats are feeling: Mueller is part of a cover up.

    “The fact that this investigation takes place within the Justice Department, which Donald Trump essentially controls and he got rid of the problem Jeff Sessions, who the one decent thing that he did was recuse himself,” Reid explained on Saturday.

    “This guy is not recused,” she said about Barr. “It feels like the seeds of a cover-up are here.”

    So, what you are seeing is the Democrats claiming that the Mueller report is meaningless, that Mueller is now part of enemy operations, and Trump is guilty, anyway, despite all the proof to the contrary….

    Yeah. There’s all sorts of hoaxes in the world. There’s the flat earthers, the Loch Nessies, the Yeti fans, the ones that say the moon landing really happened on a Hollywood stage, the 9/11 truthers… oh, and the Muller “Collusion” fanatics. Yep, lots of nuts out there.

    https://godfatherpolitics.com/democrats-already-turning-to-new-russia-conspiracy-mueller-is-part-of-cover-up/

  4. It is true that for 2 years we heard nothing from mainstream media but how smart, honorable, uncorruptable and thorough Mueller was. Wait, that’s before his Report finding no Trump-Rusia collusion. Now Mueller can’t be trusted and the Report may be part of a cover-up? Sadly, the Democratic party bears no resemblance to the party of JFK, but it is the new socialist party of AOC, Beto, Bernie, Watters and Warren, all wearing their tin foil hats shinny side out and unwittingly gifting Trump a second term.

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