Gard Questions Potawatomi Pact; Tribal Spokesman Refutes Figures

WisPolitics ^ | 3/3/2003 | WisPolitics

[steveegg]

Below is a letter sent by Assembly Speaker John Gard to colleagues via e-mail this morning. A spokesman for the tribe, Tom Krajewski, called Gard's analysis comparing the deals "totally preposterous."

Dear Colleagues,

New documents our office has received concerning the Potawatomi gaming compact negotiations raise new questions about the compact agreement announced last week by Governor Doyle.

Attached (note; link is to a PDF version of this document) you will find a copy of the compact offer presented by the Potawatomi negotiators (Eric Dahlstorm) to Department of Administration negotiators (Mike McClure) last September. In this offer, the Potawatomi state, "This document represents a deal we [the Potawatomi] can support and is comprehensive. If we reached agreement on this document we would not need to raise any other topics or issues."

This compact offer was for a limited term - 10 years with a 5-year extension option - and contained several expansions of gaming rights for the tribe. The Potawatomi offer also created a payment schedule to the state that raises more questions about the deal that the governor signed. As you can see from the comparison below, by 2005 alone, the state taxpayers would have seen an additional $78 million more per year from the tribes than they would under the terms agreed to by Governor Doyle. This difference would only expand further in the out-years of the compact.

Potawatomi final offer to McCallum Administration

Year		Net Win		Yield to State		Doyle
2002		$350,000,000 (base assumption)		$26,900,000
2003		$504,000,000		$40,375,000		$6,375,000
2004		$725,800,000		$74,020,000		$40,500,000
2005		$1,045,152,000		$121,922,800		$43,625,000

(Note; Doyle's plan necessarily cannot address 2002 as he was not in office for that year.)

The dramatic disparity between the terms proffered by the Potawatomi in September and the terms proffered by the Doyle administration this February raises a series of important questions:

(1) What happened between September of 2002 and February of 2003 that would lead the state to accept a significantly smaller payout from the tribes for a permanent gaming monopoly than the tribes were willing to offer for a limited- term, limited expansion of gaming?

(2) When the Doyle administration began its own negotiations why was the September offer by the Potawatomi not used as a starting point for those negotiations?

(3) If, as the tribes argue, their financial support for candidate Jim Doyle was due to his support of their positions on gaming, why were their campaign contributions sent to the Democrat National Committee rather than given directly to the Doyle campaign? Were they instructed to send money there with the understanding that it would come back to the Doyle campaign? If so, who gave those instructions?

These new documents provide more evidence that the current compacts represent a sweetheart deal for the tribe and a raw deal for the taxpayers.

I hope this information is useful to you.

Sincerely,

John Gard
Assembly Speaker

[steveegg]

For reference, here is the perpetual gaming agreement that "Diamond" Jim "Craps" Doyle signed with the Potawatomis. On September 10, 2002, the Potawatomis broke off negotiations with the McCallum administration, and on October 29, 2002, funnelled $200,000 (link to a surprisingly-strong Spivak and Bice column in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel) to the Democratic National Committee as part of a larger funnelling of money by the gaming tribes (the Oneida, who also signed a perpetual gaming agreement, sent $25,000 on 10/31, while the Ho-Chunk, the largest of the gaming tribes, gave $500,000), who turned around and funnelled that money to the Doyle campaign just before the election.

Take particular note that the Potawatomis can cancel ALL of their payments under Doyle's agreement if a casino opens up in northern Illnois (or any place within 50 miles of their Milwaukee gaming hall), or if Dairyland Greyhound Park or Geneva Lakes Kennell Club turn into casinos, or even if the Potawatomi goes back on their word to allow the dog tracks to continue simulcasting horse and dog races. Under the last offer to the McCallum campaign, those payments would have been cut to 3% of the net winnings described above.

[republicandiva]

The more info that comes out, it's looking more and more like not only a "quid pro quo" but almost extortion on the part of the tribes. This deal makes no sense in any other context, unless we are to believe that Bingo-Craps Doyle is an idiot. It's almost mind boggling to think that so much was given away for so little in return.

[steveegg]

Yes, Craps Doyle is an idiot, and yes, that is bribery that the Big Three tribes pulled. It is real interesting that the tribes cut off all negotiations the moment that Doyle won the DemonRATic primary.

Question for the northern Illinois FReepers - is there anyone seeking to put a casino around, say, Gurnee or Rockford? If so, I'd be willing to bet that there's some Wisconsin Indian money flowing down your way to grease those skids.

[spunkets]

"It's almost mind boggling to think that so much was given away for so little in return."

It's all about votes. Doyle gave them whatever made them happy, so they would all go out and cast a vote for their big benefactor, Doyle.

[steveegg]

Speaking of "all about votes", fraud in Milwaukee has advanced to the point of being an open-air bazaar.