From Kentucky Public Radio's Tony McVeighKentucky Senate President David Williams says Gov. Steve Beshear’s attempts to win Democratic control of the Senate have "poisoned the political atmosphere" in Frankfort.Williams told reporters at the State Capitol there’s only one issue on Beshear’s mind...slot machines...and the governor will stop at nothing to bring slots to the commonwealth.
"He’s the slot machine governor and that’s how he’ll be remembered. And until he gets slot machines, I don’t think he’s willing to stop at anything to take control of the General Assembly. And I wish there were a lot of issues that we could work on together, but a lot of people – both Democrats and Republicans in the state Senate – are not for slot machines,” Williams (pictured at right) said.Beshear spokesman Jay Blanton says the governor makes not apologies for supporting slots at horse tracks.“If the question is, does the governor believe that a 100-thousand jobs and four billion dollars, as represented by the horse industry is important and that gaming is a potential answer to help save that industry, yes he does. If that is something you need to plead guilty to, then yeah, the answer is guilty,” Blanton said.
But Blanton says the governor's record proves he's about more than just slots. He says Beshear (left) has worked with Republicans in a bipartisan fashion over the last 19 months to move the state forward.
