Md. job woes, gambling stalemate are connected

On page 1 of Saturday's Sunpaper was the article that "Maryland lost 11,000 more jobs in June" (July 21). It noted that the loss was "among the worst in the nation" and that this was "Maryland's fourth month in a row of job declines." Back to this in a moment.

On page 2 was the story: "Governor's gambling proposal not ready." Let's put both of these stories together.

Finally, after five years of political wrangling, we have slots-only casinos. Once the initial appeal (of slots only) wears off, guess where all the people who want table games are going to go? They are going to go to Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and New Jersey, which is exactly what they have been doing for the last five years. One can only imagine how many billions of dollars have ended up in those states' coffers?

Maryland needs jobs and a great number of our schools are in such bad physical condition that it would take billions and billions of dollars to fix them. Where will the jobs and money come from? I think you already know the answer.

And, that leads to this question: What are our politicians doing to solve these problems? Not a whole lot that I can see. Who are they looking after and or representing? The answer, of course, is themselves.

Steven L. Eisenberg, Owings Mills