After two years of discussions about a Maine casino now it comes down to the last few weeks. The debate has heated up to a point where it is getting confusing, and that is exactly where the Casinos No! group would like it to go. It seems their strategy is to send out strange interpretations about the casino. It makes me wonder if they have even read the referendum question themselves. The casino language is very plain and simple. The secretary of state has approved the wording of the casino referendum.

The anti-casino group has used scare tactics and has openly used false advertising against the proposed Maine casino. A quick look at the headlines in the state newspapers over the past year would reveal how this group is trying to stop the legal process of allowing the Maine people to vote on this issue. People must remember the Casinos No! group was fined $7,000 because they tried to stop the gathering of signatures; they have tried to use the courts, the newspapers, and the television against a legal process. This attack has continued all summer, even going so far as to attempt a block on casino floats in local parades.

Just looking back at the state’s deficit is scary enough to warrant thorough consideration of this issue. Maine has lost 42,000 industry jobs during the last 12 years and 7,300 manufacturing jobs this last year alone. The unemployment rate has increased to 4.9 percent and 9 percent of Maine people are underemployed. The salaries have decreased from an average $36,374 (1989-2001) to $27,000 (2003), while livable wages are at $28,900. The only thing there is a surplus of is people leaving the state, because one out of every three jobs fails to pay enough for them to live.

The state government is in a terrible deficit, millions upon millions of dollars, where is this money going to come from? It will come from the backs of Maine’s hard-working people.

A Maine casino would produce a huge number of jobs – just look at the numbers. There are many Mainers who would like to be paid a decent wage and benefits to match. The big companies that are against the casino are afraid they may have to compete and provide equal or greater wages to Maine people. The casino would generate $100 million for property tax relief and for education. The casino would be subject to all state laws – just as other businesses are.

So, in less than three weeks the casino referendum question will ask you to consider a brighter future for the people of Maine. Do not let the scare tactics of Casinos No! and the big companies tell you what is best for Maine, you decide.

Donald Soctomah was the Passamaquoddy representative in the Maine Legislature from 1998 to 2002.