Here’s why I will vote against the casino:

1. The fact that some Maine people gamble (throw) their money away is not the core issue. The casino would be just another form of this silly activity.

2. Most of the money the casino takes in will leave the state to stuff the wallets of gambling interests in Las Vegas. A pitifully small amount of the casino’s money would stay in Maine. We need more money coming into the state (imanufacturing jobs), not more money leaving the state. There are millions of dollars that are now being spent annually in Maine in stores, for services and other methods of local spending that will not be spent here if the casino is built. There is nothing that can replace that kind of horrific impact on the Maine economy.

3. There are very serious auditing, security and oversight issues that limit the local watchdog aspect of the money flowing through the casino. This reinforces for me the suspicion that the gambling interests don’t want their financial operations to be as transparent as they should be.

For those who really want to gamble (throw their money away), I have a suggestion: every couple of months, send a $1,000 of your money to these out of state gambling vampires. In turn, they can send you, say, $100 back as a winning prize. You’ll “make” more money doing that than by throwing it away in a casino.

Gary Guimond, Lewiston