The RAnts of RA

Schwarzenegger Sells California Out to Gambling Casinos

by Kathryn Bowen

Whoever coined the phrase “Ignorance is bliss” must have been talking about the 35 million Californians trusting that their governor and their elected officials are actually doing their job with respect to gambling casinos run by Indian tribes in our state.

“Bliss” is what Governor Schwarzenegger has been selling the public while he sells the State down the river by granting the largest expansion of gambling in history to 5 casino tribes.

In the wake of Californian’s support of Prop 1A, former Governor, Gray Davis, negotiated gambling compacts with Indian Tribes. Millions of voters succumbed to a brilliant marketing campaign that casino tribes invested nearly $100 Million into, equal to a presidential election, to persuade voters to change our State constitution and direct gambling monopolies to Indian tribes. I was one of those voters.

Here’s the bad news.

At this moment, your elected representatives in California are just about to vote on whether to grant 5 casino tribes, consisting of just 1,876 people, the ability to expand willy-nilly despite the impact on our communities, families, children and ultimately the financial future of California.

This is just the beginning; 67 additional tribes with gaming compacts are waiting in the wings and the Governor may not inform the public when renegotiations commence with these tribes.

The reality is the revenue promised for the state through gambling expansion will not materialize. The Governor and his advisors know this and should probably buy a new calculator because they know the expected income is neither measurable or enforceable!

Thousands of emails, letters, phone calls and exhaustive testimony attempting to alert our elected officials of endless issues regarding jurisdiction, regulation, accounting and disastrous social costs have fallen on deaf ears.

Hearing Loss

The reason for the hearing loss? Could it be the massive unregulated tribal contributions flowing into political campaigns of the majority of our elected officials in our State Capitol?

In fact, tribes poured $429,600 into the campaigns of just fifteen assembly members who held an “impartial” hearing on problematic regulatory issues with the compacts and will be key in deciding their fate. How impartial can they really be when taking money from the same tribes that will benefit from their vote? By any definition, this is a profound conflict of interest.

Making matters worse, the Minimum Internal Control Standards (MICS), the only federal regulatory leg left to oversee the integrity of the games and to collect the money, has been eliminated from the compacts.

What does this mean? These so-called compacts are really contracts that will cement a permanent partnership between the State of California and loosely regulated gambling casino tribes for the next 25-years, without the ability of the state to audit and collect the money or to ensure fair gaming for the patrons.

Casino tribes have kicked federal regulators off their land claiming sovereignty. What makes the state think its going to be any more successful especially given the fact there are simply not enough enforcement resources?

Moreover, Schwarzenegger privately brokered 25-year, multibillion dollar deals without so much as an economic study to show how expanded gambling will impact the people of California.

Given the fact that 80% percent of gambling revenue comes from households with incomes of less than $50,000 a year, don’t you think you need a study to show what this spread of gambling is going to do to the state?

What kind of representative government balances its budget on the backs of its poorest and most vulnerable citizens? Even Russia and other countries around the world who believed that gambling actually produced economic vitality have come to their senses and banned or closed most of their casinos due to the economic strain caused their economies.

Once again, our elected officials are going for the quick fix approach to fixing the state’s budget problems instead of assessing the long-term effects of really bad policy.

What does California get? We all get to sit by and watch our regional economy redirect billions in disposable income (taxable sales) into “sovereign tribal governments” who are not bound by the U.S. Constitution, remain outside regulatory laws and pay no taxes on their $23 Billion profits.

This massive federal scandal’s tentacles have found their way into every corner of our government through corrupt campaign finance loopholes. From the White House on down to local county governments who are faced with the dilemma of how to stand up to tribes who exploit their ancestral suffering to bully local governments into giving them what they want.

Wake up California! The gaming tribes’ plight no longer has anything to do with civil rights, justice or historical reparations, but rather with self-indulgent gambling expansion under the guise of self-determination.

About the author:

Kathryn Bowen is an expert and activist on government regarding gambling across the country.

Issues include: tribal expansion, tribal sovereignty, tribal sovereign immunity, political corruption due to unlimited funds from casino tribes both in local and state government, civil rights, equal protection issues communities struggle with due to representative government becoming too reliant on big gambling dollars. Member of the legal subcommittee team involving a lawsuit filed by Preservation of Los Olivos (POLO) and Preservation of Santa Ynez (POSY) against the federal government in 2005. This suit was filed as an appeal to the Bureau of Indian Affairs decision to accept privately purchased land by the Santa Ynez Band into federal trust status without proper representation of community interests. Writer/Producer of documentary “Big Gambling Dollars and Politics at Work”

Non-newsworthy 2008 election candidates and their issues.

Watching the network news channels, specifically Fox News and CNN, a viewer would be led to believe there are only two candidates running in the upcoming 2008 Presidential Election: Some black guy named Obama that no ones ever heard of and the infamous Hillary Clinton, feminist champion in the flesh.

On a side-note, why is it that so called “feminist” supporters tend to look so masculine. After all, I can’t think of a soul that would make the mistake of calling Hillary feminine. She will never achieve the imperial air of the illustrious matriarchal figure, Barbara Bush. Now she has the look of a great woman, even if her sons both deserved a few more trips to the woodshed in their earlier years.

At any rate…

Congressman Ron Paul announced his candidacy several weeks ago.

Now this is a guy you can get excited about. He is honest and isn’t afraid to stand-alone as he’s shown it in the past. Patriots across the country were pulling for him last year, when he introduced a bill intent on abolishing the income tax.

Talk about a guy with no fear…just try taking on the IRS sometime.

It’s like David and Goliath, kind of a one-sided battle. Of course David does manage to come out on top once in while, but who wants to be David – and have to fight the battle in the first place?

My point is not that Congressman Ron Paul is in the race but that there are at least 16 other campaigns, which have been announced as of this writing, why aren’t we hearing about them? Is it not news in this country when a man decides to seek public office, let alone the highest office in the country?

When a man — a sitting Congressman isn’t considered news worthy or relevant to this election, voters can assume one of two things: Either certain candidates are subsidizing the news, namely organizations backing women or minorities, or the station is biased toward certain candidates.

If the major news networks want to be seen as “fair and balanced,” they must start telling voters the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Stop making up ignorant news stories about “Hillary” and start reporting real news.

Who knows? Maybe 2008 will be the year that voters finally make up their minds to vote their hearts and minds, instead of voting for “the lesser of two evils.” Evil will always be evil, no matter how you dress it up.

America was never intended to be the two-party system the Congress has created. We, as voters, have a duty and obligation to vote for the best “person,” not the best “party.”

Who’s reaching out to the young people? Have you encouraged a young person or even a senior citizen to get out there and vote? Sometimes they just need a ride or someone to remind them.

Parents, are you discussing politics with your children? Do they understand the voting process? Don’t leave it up to schools or others to educate your child on not only the mechanics of voting but also on discuss your own views and listen to theirs. Take a part in the process. It’s a huge opportunity to talk to friends, family members, neighbors and co-workers.

Some crazy person started a rumor that it is impolite to discuss religion and politics. How will you ever expand your thinking? How will you gain a real education, unless you can calmly and rationally discuss your views?

If you think you can really gain an understanding of the important issues (however they are defined) by reading/watching or listening to the major news outlets, you are missing the boat. You are accepting the lies being told and having all the issues framed for you.

For a true understanding of the process and the issues you must actively participate.

• Attend a local speaking event. Your local college, community organization, or local lobbying groups often host local forums. Call your legislators’ local office and ask for a listing of scheduled events. Many even have weekly roundtable meetings.
• Volunteer for your local candidate by stuffing envelopes, manning the phones, walking a beat or handing out fliers. There are a great many positions that need to be filled in any candidacy.
• Host a political blog, website or e-mail newsletter.
• Contact your candidate; make an appointment to meet with him/her or send an e-mail with your questions and concerns.

One lady just gushed on CNN, “I’m so excited I have so many choices.” Who is she kidding? If CNN doesn’t cover it, it didn’t happen. While they are busy peddling Hillary to us with a shovel, other worthy 2008 candidates are left begging for money so they can purchase enough air time get a foot in the race.

There is something seriously wrong with our system. This is still America isn’t it? Home of the free, land of the brave! Some how that is not the image we are seeing.

I’ll leave you with one word:

VOTE!

Related Articles

• Before Tancredo or Ron Paul can get Elected

While reporters taunt us with the ideology of sweeping changes in the House of Representatives and the shift of congressional control, the only thing that is certain is that gridlock is imminent.

Election News Coverage

I’ve been listening to the news on MSNBC this morning, trying to find a few sound bites of real news. One theme permeates coverage of the election and that is that the voters have spoken and they have voted for change. What a laughable statement.

History shows that not much changes in Washington, regardless of whether or not the Democrats or the Republicans are in control.

More of the same

A real vote for change would have been to throw out both the Democratic and the Republican party candidates and start over from scratch with those who’s voices have been shut out of the political process for all practical purposes — the Libertarian Party, the Constitutional Party, the American Reform Party, etc. We won’t see any real change in national policies until voters are prepared to shake things up and really cast their vote for change.

Alternatively, shifting the balance of power from a Washington controlled exclusively by Republican party cronies to one checked by the Democrats with a House majority, is the best senerio possible.

Shifting the balance of power will force the Bush administration to work with the Democrats and considering the Bush ego that means very little will actually be accomplished in Washington over the next two years – creating a win win situation for voters.

While many of the problems that the Republican controlled Whitehouse caused, wont’ be fixed anytime soon. I don’t see things getting much worse over the course of the next two years.

Is Bush now a lame duck? We can only hope.

Perhaps gridlock is a good thing after all?