Posted on 09/16/2010 10:48:19 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
TUSCARORA INDIAN NATION, N.Y., Sept. 16 (UPI) -- An American Indian tribe told motorists it may collect tolls from cars to protest a court decision giving New York the right to tax the tribe's cigarette sales.
"It's not just about taxes," a member of the Tuscarora tribe told The Buffalo (N.Y.) News. "This is about our freedom and our human rights. We're supposed to be a sovereign nation, and yet the state keeps trying to tax us."
Several dozen members of the Iroquoian-language-family tribe carrying signs and flags stopped passing cars on a two-lane state highway and handed fliers to the drivers informing them of the possible toll each time they crossed the reservation line.
"Coming Soon: Tuscarora Toll. $1 per vehicle. Located on Route 31 and Route 104," the fliers said.
The state's highest court, the Court of Appeals, lifted a temporary restraining order Tuesday that had blocked the state from enforcing new tax regulations that let New York collect cigarette taxes from non-Indian customers.
Indians living on the Tuscarora reservation would be exempt from the tax.
"Once they tax cigarettes, what will they want next?" asked Adrian Bigfoot, who said he held no office in the Tuscarora Indian Nation government, but said the government is a participatory democracy in which all Tuscaroras have a voice.
New York is "trying to break our treaties," he said.
The state Department of Taxation and Finance, responsible for collecting and enforcing state tax laws and dispersing tax revenues, had no immediate comment.
The court ruling does not apply to New York's Seneca and Cayuga nations, which remain exempt from the tax until at least Sept. 28 due to a separate restraining order issued by U.S. District Court Judge Richard Arcara, radio station WBEN-AM, Buffalo, reported.
Indeed. More like “wards of the state” than “sovereign nations”.
“And why is everyone I know on some kind of meds? “
Yeah noticed that as well.. I am proud to say I am on NONE of them. I suppose a drugged population (be they for any number of newly created medical “conditions” or illegal drugs) Is a whole lot easier to control.
I see kids in their 20s with more pills today than most seniors.
Honestly? I think life was better when we didn’t nanny people to death and left them alone. NYS will eventually learn this no matter how miserable they make the state.
Yes, I left out the state of NY. I am so used to focusing on the FedGov here. A POX on them all is quite fitting.
Yep, Paladino is a RINO. He is also anti-gun and pro-abortion IIRC.
Thanks for the ping!
If they are a sovereign nation, treat them like one. If they are not, then do the same.
The Indian reservations have destroyed the tribes.
The tribes should use any legal rights and power they have to call the tax and spend nanny state dogs off. We all need to stand up for our rights and each others’ rights now.
Ole tin-eared Barry has shown everyone what a cold unfeeling giant the FedGov is and how little it actually does for us with our money.
It is IMMORAL to use the guns of government to enforce a personal objection to a legal substance.
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