ADAPT OR DIE!
You may be saying to yourself, "Self... how does an Indian casino have anything to do with survival?"
In my home state (Maine), they passed a referendum a couple years ago. Well, more accurately, they defeated a referendum to allow the Passamaquoddy tribe (I belive) to build an Indian casino near Calais, ME. The "moral majority" thought it was in the best interest of our economy to resort to scare tactics (increased crime and traffic) to convince the voters that the casino was a bad idea.
The funny thing is... Maine is supposedly all about tourism. For Maine to make more tax dollars, they would have to increase the revenue from tourism (Maine should focus on industry, too, but that's another argument). To increase revenue from tourism, you have to increase tourism
More traffic.
When you have more traffic, you have more people coming in. And more people means more opportunities for criminals.
More crime!
NOT ONCE did I mention building a casino in those last few lines. Simply increasing tourism alone is enough to increase traffic and crime.
So the State of Connecticut gets $417 million, while the State of Maine gets SQUAT. All because some narrow-minded idiots felt it was their God-given right to scare the voters away from allowing the casino referendum to pass.
Actually... it is their right--their First Amendment right. And I don't have a problem with that. I guess the blame should fall squarely on the proponents of the casino initiative. They should've done more to prove to the citizens of Maine how the tax revenue from a casino (not to mention the industry and ancillary businesses it creates) would benefit everyone in this state.
Alas...
Well, next year is another voting year. It's my personal opinion to fatigue the opponents of a casino. What do I mean? Push the referendum every single year. Educate the voters. That, of course, would require a mess of money. If I remember correctly, that was the problem last time: the proponents didn't have enough money for the campaign.
Maybe next time. I hope.
In my home state (Maine), they passed a referendum a couple years ago. Well, more accurately, they defeated a referendum to allow the Passamaquoddy tribe (I belive) to build an Indian casino near Calais, ME. The "moral majority" thought it was in the best interest of our economy to resort to scare tactics (increased crime and traffic) to convince the voters that the casino was a bad idea.
The funny thing is... Maine is supposedly all about tourism. For Maine to make more tax dollars, they would have to increase the revenue from tourism (Maine should focus on industry, too, but that's another argument). To increase revenue from tourism, you have to increase tourism
More traffic.
When you have more traffic, you have more people coming in. And more people means more opportunities for criminals.
More crime!
NOT ONCE did I mention building a casino in those last few lines. Simply increasing tourism alone is enough to increase traffic and crime.
So the State of Connecticut gets $417 million, while the State of Maine gets SQUAT. All because some narrow-minded idiots felt it was their God-given right to scare the voters away from allowing the casino referendum to pass.
Actually... it is their right--their First Amendment right. And I don't have a problem with that. I guess the blame should fall squarely on the proponents of the casino initiative. They should've done more to prove to the citizens of Maine how the tax revenue from a casino (not to mention the industry and ancillary businesses it creates) would benefit everyone in this state.
Alas...
Well, next year is another voting year. It's my personal opinion to fatigue the opponents of a casino. What do I mean? Push the referendum every single year. Educate the voters. That, of course, would require a mess of money. If I remember correctly, that was the problem last time: the proponents didn't have enough money for the campaign.
Maybe next time. I hope.
posted by xanadian at 3:28 PM
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