Sorry, no chance for you, governor

I don’t know why those who voted against the casino are being so quiet but someone needs to speak out publicly to the governor on behalf of the people. I really don’t like doing this and there is no disrespect intended, governor, but this is about the future welfare of all the people and children in the CNMI and the supreme principle of respecting the people. A lesson must be taught or it will happen again, which is something we all learn during childhood! The governor never gave us a chance and I couldn’t believe the governor was asking people to give casinos a chance. Where was he when we the people said no? The governor thought the first lawsuit was funny and even joked that he expected more; well he is finally getting it with the second one being filed that no really means no when the majority speaks and we are not laughing!

He didn’t really ask for support before he shoved the casino down our throats and his plea for support now is certainly too darn late for his casino, his bid to be governor, and the people in his party who are tied directly to the casino. They are all clearly caught in the middle of a flowing and soon-to-be raging stream without a paddle or a life vest figuratively (no real support in the community, just party and casino loyalist).

It is now becoming even clearer why the governor didn’t want the feasibility study because it would have exposed all kinds of challenges we needed to address before the casino law was even written. Just think about it voters, for 10 years this administration has been pushing casinos and they never even determined a site! Are you kidding me? Voters are not stupid and they know if you are going to build a 2,000-room hotel/casino complex, the first thing you need to do is to determine where you are going to put it. Talking about putting the cart in front of the horse and trying to go somewhere—what an ugly joke on voters. This is something my 8-year-old granddaughter would call ridiculous.

I told you so readers and it is all coming true down our throats. How do the casinos taste, with all this controversy and we haven’t even swallowed one dime to help the retirees or the people yet. Just wait, it is going to get worse before it gets better because even if we get to use the $30 million, that money is only a temporary band-aid. It will take years to build the casino and we see future revenues. So hold on to your dollars and spend them wisely because the casino band-aid will only last past this election season!

Voters only got half of the job done in the last election. Voters did prune and cut off the top of the fruitless tree, hoping it would bloom and bear fruit but it is now becoming crystal clear that the rest of the tree still remains fruitless. I think it is clear to most of us now given the casino rush job and the lack of any planning, the casino political play for the biggest voting bloc (retirees) to get their vote will not work!

Ambrose M Bennett
Kagman, Saipan