Former Governor Angus King has spoken out in opposition to a referendum to build a casino in the western part of Maine. If you live outside of the United States and don’t know where Maine is, that’s okay, because most Americans don’t, either.

Maine is an inconsequential state roughly the size of my boss’s house and might as well be Canada. Like all states, they are facing a budget deficit, and like many states, they are considering casino revenue as a way of addressing the shortfall. As is the case with any voter referendum, there are some who support it and some who oppose it.

Those opposing adding casinos to Maine created a group called Casinos No! They even have a website, as all special interest groups do today. On the website, the group plays on all of the clichés and worst-case scenarios. In the “Learn More” section, they have stories about people losing all of their money on slot machines, people who become addicted to gambling and even a man who committed suicide after one final “gambling binge.”

They are entitled to their opinion, but the idea that allowing a casino will cause thousands of Maniacs (pretty sure that’s what you call someone from Maine) to blow their money and kill themselves doesn’t seem realistic. I have a little more faith in people than that, even people who live in Maine.

Recently joining the opposition was Angus King, the liberal “Independent” who governed the state from 1995 to 2003. Proponents of the referendum say that adding the casino will add thousands of jobs and much needed revenue. However, according to King, casinos “sell dreams, and turn lives into nightmares.”

He says that the casino won’t provide the promised revenue, which backers say should be approximately $60 million per year in taxes. Worse yet, King says that having casinos in the state will harm Maine’s image.

I have news for you, Mr. King: Maine does not have an image. No one thinks of you at all. More Americans think Puerto Rico is a state than can name or locate Maine on a map. Unless you do something truly outlandish, such as pull a Vermont and become a haven for sexual predators, you don’t have to worry about any image.

November 2 is Election Day and we will know soon after that whether Maine’s voters believe the anti-casino scare tactics.

Tags: Angus King, gambling expansion, Maine casino

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 27th, 2010 at 1:26 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.