Posted on 01/13/2009 6:01:52 PM PST by Dan Nunn
BUFFALO -- It appears the New York State Thruway will again figure prominently in a dispute between the Seneca Indian Nation and the state over cigarette taxes.
On Tuesday, Seneca President Barry Snyder outlined the nations response to a law signed by Gov. David Paterson that would ban manufacturers from selling unstamped cigarettes to wholesalers who supply reservation stores.
Snyder says tribal councilors are now devising a system to collect tolls of $2 per car on the Thruway, where it passes through the tribes Cattaraugus Reservation in western New York. He called the interstate an illegal, unlicensed business.
In 1997, the Senecas burned tires and shut down part of the Thruway following an attempt that year by the state to tax Indian suppliers.
The Constitution says that only Congress has the authority to deal with the Indian Nations. Of course, we all know how much respect liberals have for the Constitution.
Actually, some reports have the state losing millions per year because of the Indians breaking the law. Putting additional taxes on the packs will only encourage more illegal sales.
Personally, I'd prefer no taxes at all. However, if the taxes are going to be imposed they should be enforced equally, without regard to "race" or ethnicity.
Now if we can only get the rest of American on board...
Actually, in OKLAHOMA TAX COMM'N v. POTAWATOMI TRIBE, 498 U.S. 505 (1991) the US Supreme Court held, in a state is free to collect taxes on such sales to nonmembers of the tribe which is all the NYS law seeks to do.
LOL! That would include libtard in America
Let the Indians sell them as the currently do and set up customs stop on the US board of the Indian own lands. That way NY gets the taxes, the Indians get the business and the people get screwed just like the rest of the state.
BTW - I really have a problem with funding programs with items that are then taxed into oblivion. What happens when the costs are so high there is massive drop in tax revenue to support the programs? Oh yeah, it already happened.
I agree 100%.
These native tribes haven't been exempt from various forms of taxation because of their race or ethnicity, but because of their location. From a legal standpoint Indian reservations are sovereign territories that aren't subject to the same laws as "ordinary" parts of the U.S.
Not true. Most of the benefits of "sovereignty" apply only to members of the tribe (ie, members of that ethnicity) who are operating on the location in question.
hahahahaaa .. yep, yer right! Stoopit me to trust spell-check .... indigenous it should have said :)
“I hope the Sencas win this one.”
No one wins. ‘A nation within a nation’....it’s never worked, and it never will. Just more divide and conquer....identity politics.
Why should members of the Seneca tribe be paying less cigarette tax than I do? Either this is America, or it isn’t. Either we’re equal or we’re not. It’s past time to stop this ‘tribal’ thinking.
“Prima facie, it looks like the loser governer of NY is on thin ice. Worcester v. Georgia (1832) established that State laws (such as New York’s) have no authority in dealings with the Indian Nations”
Do you know what the result of that decision and Worcester winning it was?
The trail of tears. Jackson refused to enforce the Supreme court ruling in favor of ‘Worchester’, who was a missionary representing the Cherokee, against the state of Georgia.
Law means nothing if it’s not enforced.
“Personally, I’d prefer no taxes at all. However, if the taxes are going to be imposed they should be enforced equally, without regard to “race” or ethnicity. “
Thank you. After 200 & years at this Constitutional experiment, so few get that.
I'd point out, though, that as time goes on it gets harder to state with any kind of certainty that someone who claims to be an "Indian" isn't telling the truth.
I still hope the Senecas can beat the New York dem cash grab.
Burn tires on the thruway? Won’t work, for long. What they need to do is burn down the NYS Assembly and Senate and then continue on and plant a charge under the Governor’s mansion.
When the Assembly and Senate are in session in Albany we have the largest aggregation of crooks, swindlers and thieves in one place in NY since the Mafia meeting in Apalachin in 1957.
I did know that. Are you suggesting that Nobama and his Dem Congress are going to repeat such actions against the N.Y. Senecas?? As mindless as the Obama supporters/drones are, even they would raise an outcry against the weasel Dems if they tried to pull such a stunt.
“Well, that’s true. I guess it makes sense that some mob boss couldn’t just move to a “reservation” and claim that he’s a Seneca or Oneida Indian.
I’d point out, though, that as time goes on it gets harder to state with any kind of certainty that someone who claims to be an “Indian” isn’t telling the truth. “
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Many tribes, including a local one,the Klamath can invite anyone to be a member of their tribe. Builds their numbers and handouts and political power. Many ‘Cheifs’ are not blood native. Tribal governments are notorious for corruption and scamming. John Ross, the ‘Chief’ of the Cherokees from the 1830’s to 1866 was blue eyed and 1/8th Cherokee.
I wouldn’t speculate what the government of NY might do. It’s beyond me. I admit I will smile if the Seneca’s put any left coast politico in their place. Then they need to shut up and remember they should be Americans like the rest of us instead of ‘Seneca’ first.
It's more than that. New York is telling the Indians to become tax collectors. New York already "charges" tax to non-Indians by requiring residents to declare purchases out of state.
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