Indian Casinos
Posted at 9:36am on Jun. 17, 2008 If Gregoire Were a Republican, This Would Be Front Page, Above the Fold in the New York Times
By Erick
Twenty-three of our United States have entered into agreements with Indian tribes to allow casino gambling. Of those twenty-three, twenty-two collect millions of dollars as part of revenue sharing agreements.
What about the twenty-third state? Well, that would be Washington State and we're coming to learn that it is more and more likely Washington collects no money from Indian gambling operations because Governor Christine Gregoire decided she'd rather get campaign contributions.
Washington State Republicans and some Democrats are demanding an investigation into Governor Gregoire's handling of revenue sharing agreements with Washington State Indian tribes.
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports
Gov. Chris Gregoire is benefiting from more than $650,000 in campaign contributions from Indian tribes that hit the jackpot in 2005 when she killed a gambling compact potentially worth more than $140 million a year to the state.
Unlike 22 other states that collect millions from revenue sharing agreements for tribal gambling, Washington gets no money from tribal casinos under the compact that Gregoire renegotiated with the Spokane Tribe.
The newspaper quotes Senator Ken Jacobsen, a Seattle Democrat, making a good point for a Democrat: "Why would you give someone a monopoly without taking a cut?"
And that is exactly it. In 2005, Washington intended to enter into agreements with the tribes that would have expanded tribal gambling operations and given Washington a cut of the money. But, before the legislature approved it, Governor Gregoire insisted the deal be renegotiated. Her staff was directly involved in the negotiations and they negotiated the state out of millions of dollars.
Gregoire, in what seems to clearly be a quid pro quo arrangement, received $650,000.00 in campaign contributions. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports, "The bulk of the tribal campaign contributions came from tribes that opposed the 2005 agreement Gregoire killed."
Posted in 2008 | Christine Gregoire | Corrupt Democrat Watch | Democratic Governors | Indian Casinos | Washington — Comments (8)/ Email this page » / Read More »
Posted at 2:29pm on Feb. 5, 2008 My Super Tuesday Ballot [Bumped for primary day]
By Neil Stevens
Yesterday my ballot came in the mail for California's primary election on Super Tuesday, February 5.
Unlike the November 2006 ballot which was just huge, this one is pretty small. One office, and 7 initiatives (well, effectively four since four of them are nearly identical).
Here are my choices and recommendations from top to bottom, and why:
Posted in 2008 | California | Community Colleges | Fred Thompson | Indian Casinos | Infrastructure | taxes — Comments (20) / Email this page » / Read More »
