Gov. Paul LePage has let the nation know the state of Maine is open for business. New highway signs were designed and manufactured for all entering the state of Maine from any direction to see.

LePage has sent every governor of each of the 50 states a special Maine lobster gift.

If LePage is so pro-business for our state, why does it seem he is more willing to negate their responsibilities when it comes to accepting the EBT cards? He has to have evidence who accepted those cards. Blaming the less than 1 percent who evidently abused the system is not an indication of a job well done nor is it the complete evidence as it pertains to the EBT holder nor the business that accepted the EBT. Why does LePage choose to diminish the people of Maine, especially the less fortunate, in lieu of holding all involved accountable, including himself and the “representation” of facts as he sees fit?

What is the cost of this EBT fraud? Especially as compared to the nationwide lobster gifts to 50 governors with their own state agendas, as I doubt any of them sponsored community lobsterfests.

If we have to tell people we are open for business with highway signs, perhaps we are not doing enough for prospective businesses to consider Maine in the first place. Portraying the less fortunate of Maine as the perpetrators in an EBT fraud that also includes businesses accepting those cards exudes an unacceptable double standard, as does the vague facts that are questionable as it pertains to the whole “fraud.”

Fairness and accountability are essential to each of us as individuals, as business owners and as the governor representing the state of Maine. As a Mainer, that is all I ask from LePage.

Terri Lynn PulleyGardiner