Tribal sovereignty causing more conflicts as casinos multiply

AP via SFGate.com ^ | 1/10/03 | DON THOMPSON

[Jean S]

High on a hilltop overlooking miles of Alexander Valley vineyards and the sparkling Russian River, at the dead end of a twisting narrow access road, two circus-like tents front a parking lot carved from the steep slope.

Inside, 269 slot machines clang and chime around the clock, powered by diesel generators until power lines can be installed. Gamblers' waste goes into a temporary septic system because a sewage treatment plant isn't ready. Senior citizens bused 75 miles north from San Francisco file past hard-hatted construction workers into a complex banned by the local agricultural zoning code.

[Anti-Bubba182]

DONATE TODAY!!!. SUPPORT FREE REPUBLIC

Donate Here By Secure Server

Or mail checks to
FreeRepublic , LLC
PO BOX 9771
FRESNO, CA 93794

or you can use

PayPal at Jimrob@psnw.com
STOP BY AND BUMP THE FUNDRAISER THREAD

[brooklin]

This country has to say to the "Indians" that they are American citizens... nothing more, nothing less. they should abide by the same rules as everyone else.

[joesnuffy]

Making a living off of other people's vices.....
In the end...it will be bad for all....

[Tacis]

Remember all the leftist whining about the taxpayers need to help Native Americans, no matter the cost? They were all Native Americans and all needed support.

Now, many of these so called tribes have casinos and, damn, if they haven't developed white man's greed. They aren't sharing with their red brothers. They're trying to keep it all to themselves. All it takes is a little wealth to turn a man, red or white, from communism to capitalism.

[tubebender]

My wife and I stopped there last fall when one tent was open. It's very tacky to say the least as most of the 12 casinos we have visited so far have been well thought out. Joe Montana has a ranch not far from the River Rock casino.We stopped at the Red Fox casino outside Laytonville, pop 500. to find a cluster of portable buildings with low ceilings and cigarette smoke so thick you could cut it with a knife but it was kick to visit.

I had this thought the other day about sovereighty of tribes. If they are stand alone nations then they should not be able to make contributions to elections any more than any other nation except the ChiCom of course.

[VRWCmember]

If they are stand alone nations then they should not be able to make contributions to elections any more than any other nation except the ChiCom of course.

True and all those indian reservation votes in South Dakota should be thrown out, which would give Thune a solid victory over Tim Johnson in the last US Senate election.

[TightSqueeze]

Indian sovereignty, she argues, "is an idea that got out of control." she went on to compare it with free speech, free press, and the right to bear arms, these were all good ideas at the time, but times have changed and we must be flexible enough to progress into the new millennium.

[kaktuskid]

If you are taking Federal money...you ain't sovereign!

[gitmo]

Actually, the American Indians are the ones being treated like US citizens. Where in the Constitution does the government have the authority to stop anyone from building a casino? For some reason, running a gambling establishment is evil, unless you happen to be the government. Then it's a great way to raise money.

I think it's wonderful that the various tribes are learning to exercise the freedoms that were built into the treaties the US made with them.

[Henrietta]

Amen. Tribal casinos should be illegal. They should follow the same rules as everyone else.

[Republicus2001]

they abide by the rules they agreed to

[Eternal_Bear]

If you are taking Federal money...you ain't sovereign

Like Egypt and israel which have taken tens of billions?

If you don't like Indian treaties, renegotiate with the Indians.

[mgstarr]

The United States made an agreement with them. Are some on this thread suggesting that we break yet another treaty with these people?

I give them credit for figuring out a way to make something work rather than depending on the Feds for every handout available.

[Marianne]

PATAKI'S BAD BET LINK
NY POST, 12/30/2002
     Already deep in Mario Cuomo fiscal territory with a breathtakingly irresponsible plan to borrow $4 billion for short-term operatingexpenses, Gov. Pataki is thought to be poised to launch another fiscally risky scheme: counting on $100 million or so in Indian gambling revenues to help balance the budget he'll propose next month.
     Given the highly disturbing recent revelations about the finances and characters involved in the nation's $13 billion-a-year Indian gambling industry, such a move could be a huge mistake by a governor who pledged to return fiscal integrity to New York when he first took office eight years ago.
     Pataki and the Legislature entered into the New York equivalent of a Faustian pact in December, 2001, saying, in effect, that a deal with the devil - an unprecedented expansion of Indian gambling operations - was justified to help the state through the tough fiscal times certain to follow in the wake of the 9/11 attack.
     In return for this seemingly easy money, Pataki and the lawmakers agreed to sell some of New York's soul to an amorphous collection of allegedly deserving "Native Americans" - some of whom now turn out to be in cahoots with such decidedly non-Indian entrepreneurs as Lim Kok Thay andG. Michael "Mickey" Brown.
     Malaysian businessman Lim, of course, is the man who has "loaned" New York's Seneca Indian tribe $80 million to build the new Niagara Falls Casino, set to open on New Year's Eve.
     We put the word "loan" in quotes because the 29 percent a year interest rate is more akin to the going rate for loans negotiated on the Brooklyn piers or at the Fulton Fish Market than those offered by Midtown banks.
     "Mickey" Brown is the man who brokered the original, $130 million-plus deal that put Lim, and his father Lim Goh Tong, in as the lead financiers of the Pequot tribe's Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut, a loan now earning the Lims some $100 million a year.
     Putting aside the legality of the casinos - the Court of Appeals still hasn't said how casino-based slot machines are legal in light of their specific prohibition in the state Constitution - and ignoring the socially corrosive impact casinos invariably have, one need only look to recent investigative accounts on Indian gambling to see how serious the situation is.
     These accounts - depicting massive profits flowing to shadowy characters with little public accountability and with scant evidence that significant numbers of Indians are benefiting - have raised the specter of congressional inquiries, federal grand juries and, of course, criminal indictments.
     As the Wall Street Journal wrote last week, "The national Indian gaming story is about gambling insiders and the Indians and politicians who play along."
     Politicians like Pataki, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno seem to be gambling their own reputations along with the state's credit rating.
     That last could makes losers of all New Yorkers.