For Texas Tribe, Prosperity Undone by Politics (W,Abramoff,Reed;SAD story)

[DeepModem Mom]

New York Times:
For a Tribe in Texas, an Era of Prosperity Undone by Politics
By FOX BUTTERFIELD
Published: June 13, 2005


....The 1,500 slot machines that attracted 100,000 visitors a month to the casino, earning the small Tigua tribe $60 million a year, are gone, taken away after the State of Texas won a federal lawsuit three years ago declaring that the tribe did not have the right to run a casino here on their ancestral land, the oldest settlement in Texas.

The Tiguas' efforts to get their casino reopened and their dealings with Washington insiders promising access and influence got them caught up in the spreading investigations involving the lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Republican political figures, including the House majority leader, Tom DeLay, and Ralph Reed, the former director of the Christian Coalition who is running for lieutenant governor in Georgia.

But here on the dusty east side of El Paso, where the casino overlooks the Rio Grande and Juárez, Mexico, this is less a story about machinations in Washington than about how a tribe lifted itself out of centuries of poverty into sudden prosperity, complete with good wages, health insurance and college scholarships for its 1,300 members, only to see its fortunes plummet....

***

The casino had been open five years when Gov. George W. Bush campaigned for re-election in 1998. One of his main themes was his opposition to gambling....Profits from the casino made the Tiguas political players, giving them money to make contributions. In 1998 they gave $100,000 to Mr. Bush's Democratic opponent, Gary Mauro. It was the logical choice, since El Paso was the last Democratic stronghold in Texas, and the Tiguas enjoyed a close relationship with President Bill Clinton....After his re-election as governor, Mr. Bush got the Legislature to appropriate $100,000 for the state's attorney general, John Cornyn, now a Republican senator, to take legal action against the tribe....By 1999, Mr. Abramoff, the lobbyist, had hired Mr. Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition, on behalf of the Coushatta tribe of Louisiana, which had a casino in Louisiana near the Texas border and wanted to block competition in Texas. Mr. Reed was to drum up support among conservative Christians for Mr. Cornyn's legal attack on the Tigua casino....Mr. Abramoff (e-mailed to his partner Michael) Scanlon: "I wish those moronic Tiguas were smarter in their political contributions. I'd love us to get our mitts on that moolah!! Oh well, stupid folks get wiped out."

Four days later, the Tigua leaders say, Mr. Abramoff arrived in El Paso with a plan to reopen the casino by getting a powerful Republican congressman to insert an amendment in an unrelated bill (at a cost of) $4.2 million paid to Mr. Scanlon, $2 million of which he sent to Mr. Abramoff, according to the Senate investigation. The Tiguas were also told to make $300,000 in political contributions to Republicans in Washington or to their political action committees, which they did....


(NOTE: The tribe got back $4.2 million in a settlement with Abramoff's law firm, but the casino remains closed.)


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/13/national/13indians.html?oref=logi

[1monster]

1. Obviously, good ole boy Gerogie can't stand to see any group raise

itself out of poverty. That money the tribe was making could have been going into his or his cronies pockets. They had to be shut down. :eyes:

[MasonJar]

2. That is so mean. He needs to be flushed down some toliet for

all the misery his miserable hide has caused.

[azndndude]

3. This one of the reasons i hate this man

[blogslut]

4. Hmmmm...

"Mr. Abramoff arrived in El Paso with a plan to reopen the casino by getting a powerful Republican congressman to insert an amendment in an unrelated bill"

Gee, I wonder who that powerful Republican Congressman was?

Any guesses?

<sarcasm>

[blogslut]

6. Oh come on,

One little guess?

[DeepModem Mom]

7. Lessee..."powerful," "Republican," "Congressman," Texas?

I'm seeing insects....

[blogslut]

8. I'm getting an image...

of a man that's had cosmetic eyelift surgery...

[clydefrand]

5. I hope these bastards fry in hell if there is such a fate. How dare

Abramoff say, "Oh well, stupid folks get wiped out."

I hope Ralph Reed, the great Christian leader, gets it as well.

[powwowdancer]

9. fighting terrorism since 1492...

This is part of a very tricky and complex scenario... the best way to fight the US Gov't is in court, everybody knows that. BUT, First Nations aren't technically sovereign. (While there is dual citizen ship and even dual passports, there is no real sovereignty as Nations... it's too complicated for me to understand completely). The "sovereignty" (or lack thereof) issue is a common misconception. The US isn't going to stand for sovereign nations within it's borders, so NDN lands, annuities, etc., are handled "in trust" for us by our rich uncle, hence the need{?} for the BIA. So the bottom line is our rich uncle doesn't live up to his promises, (remember, north america was ceded inch by inch to the US for various remunerations in order to stop costly wars, it wasn't simply taken, per se), SO we successfully use "in trust" loopholes to shore up the holes left by Uncle Sam's broken promises, and you get the situation as dubya found it. NDN's getting prosperous and (gulp) politically powerful. I apologize profusely for over-simplifying a very complex situation, but my understanding of the vast scope of it is admittedly limited. Bottom line? Can't have politically empowered NDN's, cuz it ain't the bushies that many First Nations want to back. I'd be willin' to bet that this is simply petty, dagger-twistin', sour-grapes/payback by a tiny little man with no soul. It's a shame that so much was at stake for the Tigua. Will these terrorists succeed in their cowardly attempt to destroy the Tigua? Ultimately, I don't think so.

[DeepModem Mom]

10. Thanks for posting your knowledgeable thoughts, powwowdancer --

and welcome to DU!

[blogslut]

11. Americathon, ever see it?

...I'm getting a vision of life imitating a movie...

[DeepModem Mom]

12. sorry -- a.m. self-kick