Friday Hound Blogging

Frequent reader(s) of this blog are aware that disappointment is the one certain outcome of hope...erm...we mean are aware that West Virginia is in the throes of a gubernatorial election and that greyhounds have become a central issue in that contest, mostly because of candidate Earl Ray Tomblin's momma.  

In a new TV commercial released today, Senate President Earl Ray Tomblin defends himself against charges of using the Greyhound Breeding Development Fund, created in 1993, to benefit his family’s greyhound racing business. The new commercials cite an article in Monday’s Charleston Gazette by reporter Phil Kabler. In the article, Kabler fact-checks accusations by the Maloney campaign that Tomblin funneled $ 2.5 million in taxpayer dollars to Tomblin Kennels, owned by Tomblin’s mother and brother.

See, right away there's a problem. What's that reporter doing "fact checking" anyway when he should following Kim Kardashian's Tweets, or waiting for Michele Bachmann to say something stupid? Hello? What part of "reporter" do you not understand?

There are no tax dollars involved. Funds for the greyhound development fund purses come from the state’s share of profits from racetrack video lottery.

Ha! You tell 'em Earl Ray. May we call you Earl Ray? How about just Bubba? Anyway, the point is it's not tax money that's going to Bubba's momma, it's money sucked off the losers who think they're going to hit the big time playing the lottery with odds of like 10 billion to one of winning. Well, guess you could call that a tax on stupid people, but the money has to come from somewhere because lord knows greyhound racing isn't profitable, so if Bubba's going to prop up his momma like a good boy, where else is he going to look?

On Tuesday, a day after Kabler’s article, the Maloney campaign released a research paper on Tomblin and the Breeder Fund pointing to several bills Tomblin supported which help increase subsidies in the Breeder Fund. Tomblin also supported spending $2 million on new greyhound training tracks in 2008, paid for by the Breeder Fund.

Hey come on. How else you going to train these dogs? You think they're born to run?  Oh wait, you do. Well, we're sure this is still a needed expense. Let's ask Sam Burdette, president of the West Virginia Greyhound Owners and Breeders Association:

Burdette says the association doesn't object to training tracks, but believes the state's planned facilities are too elaborate and expensive.

 Too elaborate? Too expensive? Mr. Burdette, we're talking about Earl Ray's momma here. Wouldn't you do the same for your momma?

Using Charleston Gazette and Charleston Daily Mail articles as sources, the Maloney research paper said that instead of the Tomblin family receiving $2.5 million from the Breeder Fund since 1993, the Tomblin family actually received $3.8 million instead. However, when added together the total amount of Breeder Fund money going to the Tomblin family since 1993, the total is $3.4 million.

$3.8 million, $3.4 million, what's the difference? We're talking pocket change here, and in a state where the average household income is $16, 477 they can afford it. Besides, how many times do we have to tell you, we're talking about somebody's momma here. Can't you get that through your head? Yeesh, some people, huh TJ?

TJ, aka Lola is a very sweet, quiet little lady. She has a beautiful brindle coat, and we received many a compliment when out on walks. She loves to chase a ball, and run laps in the backyard, but prefers to lay on her pillow when inside. She has been out of her crate for over a year now (she sleeps on a pillow on the floor in the master bedroom) and we have had absolutely no accidents or problems with her. She is a "shadow" dog once she gets to know you, and prefers to be in the same room as you. She has very expressive eyes, and gives you that "puppy dog" look almost every time she looks at you (which makes her very hard to resist!). Lola would be absolutely wonderful for a family with older children, or a couple with another dog. She would not do well with a single owner who isn't home for most of the day, or a family with younger children who are looking for a dog to actively interact with them. For more information about this dog, and other rescued racing greyhounds looking for homes, go here. If you don't know about the plight of racing greyhounds go here.