By By Governor Bob Riley
If you’ve watched TV, listened to the radio or gone to your mailbox lately you’ve no doubt seen or heard a massive advertising campaign aimed at convincing people to vote for a gambling bill that its supporters call the “Sweet Home Alabama” plan. Those of us who oppose illegal gambling don’t have millions to spend on ads, but we do have the facts on our side.  When you really look at this plan you realize it should be called “Sweet Hoax Alabama” because that’s exactly what it is. 
Supporters of this gambling plan claim it will legalize electronic “bingo” and bring a windfall of tax dollars into our state. But here are some things you probably don’t know about it. Did you know:
Those are the facts and people need to know them.  A slick ad campaign doesn’t give them to you. So I hope all Alabamians will really look into this so-called “Sweet Home Alabama” plan. 
Once they do, they’ll understand just what is at stake. For “the group” behind it, what’s at stake is the chance to become multi-millionaires through a gambling monopoly, a monopoly that will become part of our state constitution. No wonder they’re spending so much on their campaign but won’t disclose who they are. For Alabamians, what’s at stake is the untold billions of dollars taxpayers will lose because of the long-term economic and social costs that always come with casinos. 
Bob Riley is governor of Alabama. He can be reached by e-mail through the Web site www.governor.alabama.gov/.