Off-Track Betting Shuts Down

The New York Times reports that the state's OTB parlors have been closed after a deal in Albany fell through. It might seem odd that a legal gambling establishment has failed to prosper, but this quote says it all:

“It’s terrible,” said John Grassley, 77, a retired postal worker who said he had been an OTB bettor since it began. “I thought they would solve it at the last minute. They ought to privatize it, or turn it over to the Gambinos. Government can’t run anything.”

The man knows of what he speaks. After all, he's a retired postal worker.