Today's column is on the slots referendum.

Supporters and opponents of Maryland slot machines are arguing over the wording of a slots-approval measure on November's ballot. The language goes on and on about education but says nothing about horse racing. Here's how an honest version would read:

This measure authorizes the state to issue up to five video lottery licenses for the purpose of raising revenue for education, bailing out an industry that can't make it on its own and saving Annapolis pols from the hard work of governing.

Revenue for education is part of the story - the way Plymouth Rock is part of Massachusetts. Big profit chunks will go to slot parlors and rich horse owners. Out-of-state horse owners, many of them.

Reader Chuck calls with this idea: Expand offtrack betting for Maryland's racetracks as an alternative to slots. "Let the players play," he says. "The fact that players can't get there to wager is the reason they [the tracks] don't have much cash flow."

(Maryland actually has four offtrack betting facilities, according to the Maryland Racing Commission. But maybe more would increase betting on the horses.