[NW Admin]

Many of you have probably been watching the controversy of approving casinos in Ohio on the news. Whether you live in Ohio or not, I am sure much of the US knows about the debate. I wanted to throw in my two cents on the matter.

First off, I have never understood what the big deal is with the people who are against gambling in the first place. It's just a game where you can win something... just like Monopoly, the lottery... heck... even Uno. We even have horse racing here where horses come from all over the world to win money. How is it any different then the professional athletes who get payed to win games? They are taking the chance that they will lose. They get paid bonuses when they win. How is it any different?

A lot of people try to say... "Oh well gambling promotes crime and decline of communities." That is a load of crap. Sure, some people develop an addiction to gambling and make stupid choices that ruin their lives... but people do that anyway... gambling or not. Take sex, for example. How many people ruin their lives over sex? A LOT. But sex isn't banned. That would just be stupid. How many people develop an addiction to food and become so overweight that they ruin their lives? A LOT. Some people are just ignorant and make stupid choices. And just like with anything else, they will have to learn the hard way. That is no reason to keep gambling out.

The other issue at hand is that people are saying "Issue 3 will send Ohio money to other states. Issue 3 will give Ohio jobs to people from out of state." That is just a load of crap too. Of course the casinos will have to INITIALLY bring in some people from out of state who actually KNOW HOW to run a casino. If they didn't do that, it would never get off the ground. People in Ohio don't know how to run a casino. How do you think they will learn if no one comes here to teach them? Surely no one thinks the casino owners will be able to teach brand new employees everything on their own. That would just be stupid. So of course, they will bring employees in from out of state. But that should not be a problem. Obviously they are not going to have every one of their new Ohio employees be from out of state. I mean, how would they pull that off? How could they run their out of state casinos if they have no employees left their? And those people who do come here from their out of state casino to work are most likely going to be here temporarily. And if they stay, so what?! Is there something wrong with people moving here from out of state to add to our economy? It is undeniable that these casinos will create new cashflow and new jobs for WHOEVER wants to make use of them.

These adds that carry on about how bad it would be to bring in people from other states or the ads that say how bad it is the other states make money off of us... it just makes Ohio look bad. I think it makes us look like we think we are better then everyone else and that we are in it for one thing... ourselves. And like we don't welcome anyone who wants to come here from another state. This is supposed to be the UNITED states. Not the DIVIDED states. We are so willing to help other countries, but we are so divided internally. I have lived in several different states in my life and many Ohioans certainly seem to have this sense of entitlement.

So I am all for the casinos. I think it would be beneficial to our state. New jobs, new income, and something new and fun for the community.