No means no!

I have always tried to support the sitting governor but the problem is they continue to fail to listen to the people they work for and their church leaders. I truly like you and Ralph on the ticket but you keep pushing the issue of casinos. FYI governor, electronic gaming is a casino and no really means no! I’m sure most of us have experienced the phenomenon of being told no by our parents and many of us, self included, have tried to defy that no from our parents and I’m sure most if not all of us who did defy our parents ended up in trouble. Well, this is exactly what the governor keeps doing, defying his parents figuratively as he works for the people who have said no to casinos.

It is clearly obvious that people want to keep Saipan as a family destination, with gambling on the outer islands, just as we see in the mainland where the casinos are outside major cities or on the border with another state. You don’t subject the major populated areas to casinos. They are more trouble than they are worth in crime, broken homes, etc. It should also be noted that many casinos are moving to electronic casinos to save on labor costs and, yes, these electronic establishments call themselves casinos. The two-pronged approach to getting casinos on Saipan is not going to work as people know better.

I would like governor to consider the following: The people know that if poker in the villages is bad, then hundreds of virtual casinos are going to be hell! Where is the money for the CNMI? The license fee is only $2,500. The estimated income from the machines is an ugly joke! The electronic games’ betting system cheats the CNMI’s collection! Where are the new tourists coming from to play electronic games? No study or nothing says tourists even want electronic gaming. Electronic gaming will cannibalize existing tourists operations, so there’s no new money! There are no real jobs when everything is electronic—just waiters and guards! We didn’t need casinos to start the tourist industry and we don’t need electronic casinos to attract tourists now! Stop trying to force the casinos down our throats! There have been too many reasons or should I say lies told to get casinos and I’m sure the majority of the people really don’t believe these 10 years of casino lies. We the people deserve better and I’m sure they will be signing the petition for a referendum to put an end to this casino mess forever!

Governor, you should know that your people have faith and follow God and the Church, not your casino leadership. I’m sure a lot of voters will be making a New Year’s resolution to not elect any more casino leaders! So if you truly care about being re-elected and if you truly respect the decision of the people you represent then you will set a new course for the many good alternatives to casinos. So man up, Governor, and stop making excuses and just veto the bill because it is what the people want. You and Ralph will be much more appreciated for respecting the people than trying to force casinos down our throats.

P.S.: The church conducted a simple prayer before the last election and we saw the magnitude of the results. Governor, you really don’t want the church to include this casino mess in next year’s prayer before the election because you will be doomed!