Posted on 06/15/2005 10:29:04 PM PDT by RuthannaK
TESTIMONY SOUGHT ON GAMBLING - INDIAN CASINO RESERVATION SHOPPING A House committee is considering gambling law changes and wants your input by today Thursday, although even if its late they STILL want it. There is an easy questionaire that is pretty self explanatory. Way cool way to get your ideas to Congress. http://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0036864.cfm
A House committee is considering gambling law changes and wants your input.
Congress is currently accepting public testimony about off-reservation gambling. Rep. Richard Pombo, chairman of the Committee on Resources, held an oversight hearing on the issue last week in Sacramento — one outcome was a request for input from people across America. ARTICLE HAS A LINK TO THE QUESTIONAIRE
(Excerpt) Read more at family.org ...
Welcome.
Not a bad first post.....
I live in NE Oklahoma The tribal gaming is a huge problam and is here to stay. Most people are too nearsighted to see that the money spent in the Casino does not make it back into the local economy. That hurts when it is over 1 billion a year.
http://www.channeloklahoma.com/news/4611977/detail.html
Doesn't granting lucrative gambling licenses to groups of people based on race seem a bit.... ummm... racist?
How does the money not go back into the surrounding community? Are you implying that the Native Americans do not consume?
They do, and they also contribute countless dollars for programs in communities surrounding the casino. Although, most tribes do not have a casino.
This is not what happens. Native Americans are only reaffirming their soverignty that was taken by European invaders during the last 500 years. It should be considered a small step forward.
If Indian Nations are soverign nations, why do they need Federal or State Government approval to open a casino?
We are discussing RESERVATION SHOPPING. Indian tribes three years ago came into Illinois and sued fifteen landowners for their property, claiming they had once "hunted" here which made this their land. They were suing for 260,000 acress m/l. This included the University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana. When we visited other casino sights around the country we found that they had been duped. That the monies from the Casino did NOT go back into the communities and that business' around the casinos closed down at the rate of 40% or higher, the locals were stuck with huge tax losses and had the high responsibility and cost of keeping up the roads into the casinos and providing vastly increased police protection by the now vastly higher crime rates suddenly in the area. Ho Chunk indians came into our state just this year and tried the same thing. I am not sure how that is panning out. Hopefully the state has taken a cue from how strongly that downstate Illinois citizens came out against them. Once they have their property they declare it "sovereign reservation" and no local, state or federal laws can touch it. They don't have to charge taxes so all local business goes there.
In answer to your question as my husband is standing over me and wants his computer back, :-) It has to be approved through the gov. for current outside reservation properties. As the article states it is usually "slid in" under the noses of the locals and suddenly they find they have a HUGE problem. It trashes the local communities.
Locally the Indian tribe that tried to come in stated freely "We do NOT want a casino".. Later they admitted they did, and that was the reason for the whole lawsuit. This is sneaky, and its wrong. They are pushing more and more from state to state. Some Indian tribes are pushing in and taking land for casinos where they never lived or hunted. Sometimes forcefully. We are working to stop this. gtg.
One, they don't have to obey what would be municipal fire codes (lit exit signs, and those push-bars on doors).
Two, their suppliers do it at their own risk...should the tribe just decide not to pay, in almost all cases the supplier is S.O.L.
I again ask my question. If Indian nations are soverign nations, not subject to federal or state laws or government controls, why do they need federal or state government approval to open a casino?
Because its the law, and must be reviewed. Once its ok'd the states are finding its something they wish they'd never approved. We are still new at this and are finding out all the negatives and very few positives. Read some of the articles to find complete answers as to who it has to be approved by. When states find out what is really going on they are holding back from approvals, especially when the local citizenry stand up and say NO. Especially when they learn that they won't gain anything and have much to lose.
It appears that way to me..
Indian tribes should not need any permission for foreign governments to open a casino.
Dear Phantom,
with all due respect, we are discussing RESERVATION SHOPPING, the act of suing for thousands of acres of land that is currently owned by others or taking it in some kind of land grab and THEN declaring it reservation and putting a casino on it. I can't tell them they can't put casinos on land they allready own. The land they purposed to take in East Central Illinois was part of prime farm ground and the University of Illinois and a two very large cities. Some of the farmers had those farms in their families for several generations. I don't see those lands as being "reservation land " do you ?
With regardes to shopping, if they want to put shops on land they already own, then they should be able to open what ever stores they want in any quantity they want.
Sure, but on their reservations not in local communities in newly established "reservations". I don't go for land grabs, do you ?
I don't go for land grabs either. And if their actions to 'regain' land that was once theirs were without merit, it seems they would be dismissed as such.
Their effort have been cancelled in my state at least here for now, but they " the tribe" have purchased land in the bottom of the Wabash Watershed which they had sued for. (260 THOUSAND acres). They purchased the land with a blind corporation, and have called it a "cemetery". (Of course its on aheavily traveled insterstate.) They are sitting on it ostensibly waiting for governmental or public favour to change for the better for them so they can restart their fight to put in a casino.
The fact that they lied about their real purposes has not set well in this state with the government or the people.
PLEASE GO TO THE WEBSITES TODAY.. THE CONGRESS WANTS YOUR INPUT TODAY JUNE 16, 2005 ON THIS ISSUE OF INDIAN RESERVATION SHOPPING, NEW CASINOS AND LAND GRAB TAKEOVERS. ty. http://www.family.org/cforum/feature/a0036864.cfm
This ought to be interesting..
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0%2C2933%2C159737%2C00.html
N.Y. Indians Want the Hamptons Back
NEW YORK — The Southampton, N.Y.-based Shinnecock Indians (search) on Tuesday fired the first arrow in their battle to reclaim ancestral lands — filing a federal lawsuit seeking the return of 3,600 acres of prime real estate "stolen" by the state a century and a half ago.
Excerpt
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.