Spring Break
The Daily OrangePoint taken: No threat from casino owners
By Robert Tumas
Posted: 9/28/05, 12:38 AM EST Section: Opinion
Losing your money to the profit of the American Indians in the state of New York is perfectly legal. Is this a bad thing?
American Indians have the highest unemployment rate and the lowest life expectancy in the country, and conditions on reservations are compared to Third World nations. Remember, although a sovereign nation pays no taxes, it also gets no help from the government, such as welfare and Social Security. Opening casinos on their land has improved these conditions and created more jobs and economic growth for Indian nations. Our founding fathers did spend close to a century trying to eradicate the natives of this great country; I think the least we can do is let American Indians gamble.
As for monopolies, there are 90 tribes out of 557 that own 200 gaming sites in 19 states, all competing for a piece of the pie. Seriously, this is not an American Indian conspiracy here. There isn't one megalomaniacal chieftain sitting behind a golden desk plotting the demise of the commercial gaming industry.
Speaking of monopolizing moguls - and no I don't mean the man with the top hat from Parker Brothers - in 1993, Donald Trump sued the government to try to revoke the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Why? The only competition the Trump Reich has on the East Coast right now comes from the Mashantucket Pequots' Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut and the Ramapough tribe in North Jersey. Trump is a leader in the East Coast gambling market and, quite frankly, I think he's scared. If any more American Indian casinos open on the East Coast, he might lose his edge.
As to the dispute about whether it is legal to operate these casinos on land that isn't technically American Indian Trust land, I say moot point. Wasn't this land all theirs to begin with? Only allowing casinos on land that equals a pittance of what they owned before seems arbitrary and petty on the part of our government. If New Yorkers want to try their luck at the casino business, all they have to do is hit Vegas with mucho capital and they're golden. Until then, let's not be greedy. Let the less fortunate get theirs.
Robert Tumas is a junior English and textual studies major. You can e-mail him at ratumas@syr.edu.
American Indians have the highest unemployment rate and the lowest life expectancy in the country, and conditions on reservations are compared to Third World nations. Remember, although a sovereign nation pays no taxes, it also gets no help from the government, such as welfare and Social Security. Opening casinos on their land has improved these conditions and created more jobs and economic growth for Indian nations. Our founding fathers did spend close to a century trying to eradicate the natives of this great country; I think the least we can do is let American Indians gamble.
As for monopolies, there are 90 tribes out of 557 that own 200 gaming sites in 19 states, all competing for a piece of the pie. Seriously, this is not an American Indian conspiracy here. There isn't one megalomaniacal chieftain sitting behind a golden desk plotting the demise of the commercial gaming industry.
Speaking of monopolizing moguls - and no I don't mean the man with the top hat from Parker Brothers - in 1993, Donald Trump sued the government to try to revoke the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Why? The only competition the Trump Reich has on the East Coast right now comes from the Mashantucket Pequots' Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut and the Ramapough tribe in North Jersey. Trump is a leader in the East Coast gambling market and, quite frankly, I think he's scared. If any more American Indian casinos open on the East Coast, he might lose his edge.
As to the dispute about whether it is legal to operate these casinos on land that isn't technically American Indian Trust land, I say moot point. Wasn't this land all theirs to begin with? Only allowing casinos on land that equals a pittance of what they owned before seems arbitrary and petty on the part of our government. If New Yorkers want to try their luck at the casino business, all they have to do is hit Vegas with mucho capital and they're golden. Until then, let's not be greedy. Let the less fortunate get theirs.
Robert Tumas is a junior English and textual studies major. You can e-mail him at ratumas@syr.edu.
