When is Enough Enough??
Its a simple question, when is enough enough? When do you have to let a person go so that they can stand on their own two feet?
I ask this question in relation to an article in the Detroit Free Press today relating to tribal casinos and the funds which they are not returning to the state governments that allow their casinos to operate. The Free Press quoted something in the neighborhood of 300 million dollars in lost revenues. THis is an astounding number to say the least. The casinos have been able to operate under the radar as they garner little attention.
"The Free Press also found that the state's 17 tribal casinos -- now a billion-dollar industry -- attract almost no scrutiny from state or federal authorities.
To step out from the shadow of being held down, native americans country wide have to take a look at themselves and realize that the hand that is currently feeding them has a nice strong grasp on their throats. Once the whole native american gaming industry comes to a halt than they will be in the position to raise the bar and that is the true benefit.
I ask this question in relation to an article in the Detroit Free Press today relating to tribal casinos and the funds which they are not returning to the state governments that allow their casinos to operate. The Free Press quoted something in the neighborhood of 300 million dollars in lost revenues. THis is an astounding number to say the least. The casinos have been able to operate under the radar as they garner little attention.
"The Free Press also found that the state's 17 tribal casinos -- now a billion-dollar industry -- attract almost no scrutiny from state or federal authorities.
State officials rarely set foot in the casinos. They almost never check to make sure tribes aren't hiring key casino employees with criminal backgrounds. And they only occasionally examine the books to ensure that tribes pay what was promised to neighboring Michigan communities when tribal gaming was approved in 1993.
Federal officials have never once audited a tribal casino in Michigan.
When gaming officials do take a close look, they sometimes uncover problems that mean thousands, even millions, of dollars to Michigan taxpayers."
To step out from the shadow of being held down, native americans country wide have to take a look at themselves and realize that the hand that is currently feeding them has a nice strong grasp on their throats. Once the whole native american gaming industry comes to a halt than they will be in the position to raise the bar and that is the true benefit.
posted by the meathaus at 11:36 PM
4 Comments:
I was going to comment on this article (and still may) but there is an FTP problem between blogger and my hosting service, so I've been cut off for the last few days unable to add posts...
What we really need to ask is "Why did the tribes feel compelled to make such an agreement in the first place?" After all, the land on which they've built their casinos is sovereign, technically foreign territory.
Taking that into consideration: The only, and I do mean ONLY reason why the tribes would've agreed to such terms, is what we call "Rent-Seeking" in the economic field. In short, it's an additional sum payed to secure monopoly rights. It seems that the tribes put a price-tag on their effective monopoly, and so long as they were the sole proprietors of gaming-houses in the state, they would pay it. Now, once they've lost their priveleged status as monopolists, there is no reason, and no justification for paying the extra money.
As far as the state regulators are concerned, well, that's just inept management - what can you expect from government? And I'd also reconsider what authority the State of Michigan has on the sovereign soil of [insert tribe name].
Yes, but my main argument stems from the fact that we are still giving these tribes handouts for "stealing" their land hundreds of years ago. How can we give one group who we evicted from their land such rights while the people who were brought to this country forcibly are given virtually nothing, im refering to slavery in this sense. Dont get me wrong I dont feel either group is entitled to anything, but the land those tribes are living on is government supplied, call it sovreign all you want but they are part of the U.S. and as part of that should pay into the overall system. How long must native americans be treated to such benefits and such wealth before debts of the past are repaid, at what point do we draw the line, thats what I'm trying to ask here.
The rebuttal is that we are no longer giving them handouts (except perhaps in the sense of 100% subsidized education) - the land was given to them years ago, and we simply can't just take it back - it wasn't given to them for a period of x years, or under certain conditions, it was given to them as their own land.
i understand the distinction - but "sovereign" land means that in the eyes of the law, the Chippewa Indian Reservation in Mount Pleasant is as foreign as Windsor Ontario is to Detroit.
The fact that it lies wholly interior to the united states is of no consequence: The city of Centerline is bounded on all sides by Warren, but that does not subject Centerline to Warren's legal jurisdiction.
Rebuttal again is that these people will never escape the poverty they live in(despite 50000.00 payments) until they realize that they cant keep living on what are essentially handouts. I understand the concept of giving land and great its theirs, do they run their own sewers, own hospitals? As far as I know they dont which makes their land little more than a seperation without distinction. The handouts they receive are more than fully susidized education, they were given the right to casinos and given the monopoly inf being given license to run casinos that make more money than I can imgaine is not a government benefit than I dont know what is. It all comes down to the fact that they dont live responsibly, they are clouded with corruption from the top and can never exacpe that state of life without taking on additional responsibility and it would appear supervision. You cant compare a city to a "forign territory" either as the city is still bound by county and state laws as I understand it the reservation is not.
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