DaytonDailyNews.com

There are a million and one reasons to vote against Issue 3 — preposterously, outrageously and deceitfully called "Learn & Earn."

Here are 10:

1. Issue 3 is fundamentally about bringing casino gambling to Ohio — not creating scholarships and helping more kids go to college. You couldn't possibly know that from Issue 3's shameless ad campaign that hardly mentions casinos.

2. Issue 3 would allow up to 3,500 slot machines at seven horse racing tracks in Ohio and two sites in Cleveland. Picture quaint Lebanon in Warren County with 3,500 one-armed bandits at the Lebanon Raceway.

Voters from around the state would get to make the decision whether to forever and dramatically change the character of that community.

3. Issue 3 would enshrine in the Ohio Constitution that race track owners and two developers in Cleveland would get to keep 55 percent of the proceeds from their gambling enterprises. That wouldn't all be profit, of course, because the businesses also have expenses. But it's a guaranteed cut.

Meanwhile, the measure would prohibit, as a matter of constitutional law, levying additional taxes on the businesses. We should all be so lucky.

4. Issue 3 was written by and for specific businesses. Only certain outfits — not just any gaming comer — would be allowed to open a casino. Can you say self-dealing?

5. It's true that Issue 3 would create scholarships, and, in time, the amount could be substantial. Specifically, 30 percent of the gambling proceeds would be set aside for that purpose.

But there's not going to be enough money to provide free rides for all. For the first 12 years, only the top 5 percent of students in every high school's graduating class would be eligible to have most of their tuition paid. They would get a grant equal to the average undergraduate tuition at the state's universities, which they could use at any public or private Ohio school.

Beginning in 2021, all graduates who meet certain criteria would be eligible for assistance, but it's not clear how much because that would depend on how much gambling was going on. Proponents are counting on each slot machine netting $250 a day, after the payout.

6. Giving the most financial aid for over a decade just to the top kids in a graduating class helps those who are most likely to be able to afford college anyway — and get scholarships from their colleges.

7. Issue 3 would not make Ohio a gambling or tourist mecca, or necessarily lead to economic development. At the race tracks, it would only allow slots — not the array of games that are associated with big casinos and glitzy entertainment complexes. Cuyahoga County voters would have to vote to permit table games at their downtown casinos.

8. Issue 3 supporters are taking their case directly to voters because they weren't able to get their way with state lawmakers when they asked them to approve a proposed amendment. By going this way, they didn't have to negotiate with anybody about how much they could profit. That's why Issue 3 is so one-sided.

9. Does anybody think the gaming industry can, or is eager to, accurately predict how much money it will be making years from now? What if the money that needs to be set aside to create the endowment for scholarships doesn't roll in? Who pays if the promise is broken? It won't be the casinos, which will always get their 55 percent.

10. Can you really trust people who would use scholarships for kids as a cover to fatten their own wallets?

Run — don't walk — to vote "No" on Issue 3.