Posted on 06/13/2004 4:27:40 AM PDT by oceanperch
Speaking of him, I don't know why Trump is lionized as such a great businessman. He's been losing money on his casinos. How bad a businessman are you when you lose money in an enterprise where the rules are rigged so that the house wins? Am I missing something here?
> We indians are American citizens.
So then Indian reservations are NOT sovereign territory?
Can't have it both ways. Pick one.
But then, maybe I should just secceed my house from the Union, and start an incinerator. EPA can't touch me, and I can grease all the palms I want, yeah?
Ummm... According to the constitution indian nations are "dependent, sovbereign nations". However, as a reward for a hundred or more years of fighting in america's military against her enemies we were awarded american citizenship.
Deal with it.
> once indians were compared to palestinians by a poster who claimed we were going to start suicide bombings...
Don't know the post. But he may (or may not) have been thinking of Hispanics (or Chicanos, or Latinos, or La Raza, or... whatever. Who can keep track?) during the MeCHA-in-the-news days, as they were constantly claiming solidarity with the PLO, and comparing themselves to the Palestinians.
Who, by the way, seem to like to blow themselves up, at a higher rate than most other people in the world...
> Deal with it.
I am. That's why I suggested border controls.
ummm no. They specifically said American Indians.
Well, as soon as there are border controls between the various states as well, I'll agree with you. ;0)
An easy way to think about this is to think of an indian nation as a state - answerable to the federal government but not other states. Does that make sense?
It's in the Constitution, and in the whole bucket of increments that made the US.
The only "secondary citizens" in the U.S. are whites.
But some posters here are so emotional they can't even read the psots.
I'm a newcomer so I do'nt know all the posters here and I just checked out the thread because I am interested in Native Americans. I'm American of Mexican (indian) decent myself. So I have strong pro-tribal opinions. But I would say the most emoitional posts here are from you, Libertina.
That's the difference. The reservations are considered sovereign nations, not states. The Fed govt. could put up checkpoints and even charge a "departure tax" along with the demand for a passport. That would change if the Indian tribes asked for "commonwealth" status such as Puerto Rico has now.
Personally I agree more with Libertina about the unfair advantage some Indian casinos have and reading about the smoking ban stinks of politcal cronyism, IMO. Personally I would like to see taxes reduced so much that the Indian advantage would be wiped out, but the Indians also know that if they give a kickback to the state politicians they are protecting their monopoly. Political cronyism knows no racial discrimination.
Maybe ? It has absolutley everything to do with creating the black market.
The cost of a pack of smokes puts buying a pack out of the reach of most smokers. I talked to my doctor the other day and she explained that trying to quit is like trying to quit taking crack. I agree. I have never done crack but have been smoking for years. I quit once and it was the toughest thing in the world for me to do. I haven't had a drink in 12 years, that was easy to do compared to quitting smoking.
Proven fact that most smokers are low income people, especially in new york where everything is expensive. Soon they will be taxing the air that we breath.
The smoking ban in this state has destroyed thousancs of businesses.Look at this link This is just an excuse as far as I'm concerned to get in the door of the reservations, the government cannot force a sovern nation to collect taxes. It would be like us telling Canada or Mexico to collect sales taxes for our bloated government.
Constantly on the search for more revenues, they are shooting themselves in the foot by raising taxes on what they call "sin tax" smookes and booze. This is the root cause of the black market, not the Indians....
Learn how to cut the fat, pork, and staff, stop the spending.
> They specifically said American Indians.
Shrug. As I said, I don't know the specifics. However, that does not exclude the possibility of MeCHA types; as there were AmerInds in the southwestern mythical land of "Aztlan."
In any event, there have been the occaisional attempts by Native American Indian Aboriginal Injuns (or whatever the hell the PC term is these days for the people who followed Kennewick Man's people to these shores... :P ) to do something vaguely like a PLO action, by holding Feds at bay in armed standoffs. It is, of course, a doomed notion, and one I expect most of... ummm.... Turtle Islanders would find to be a useless endeavor. The idea of a bunch of Cherokee or Apache strapping bombs to themselves is more than a little bizarro.
I disagree with casinos, and gambling in general, for personal and religious reasons. However, I also see that in some ways casinos have done a lot of good for some reservations - the revenue the tribes generate more than makes up for the billions of dollars in Indian Trust money (held in "trust by the feds) that went missing during previous administrations. The revenue generated is being used to provide schools and infrastructure run by the people, rather than the BIA-administered "schools" etc... which saves the rest of us money as taxpayers, and provides better opportunities for the tribes themselves. In addition, most states have reached compacts with the tribes where the tribes pay the state quite a bit of money through flat taxes, individual taxes, payroll taxes etc...
That being said, it IS an unfair advantage. However, the fault doesn't necesarily reside with the indians so much as it does reside with corrupt politicians, and the various state governments...
What I would like is lower taxes, less onerous regulations of every facet of our lives, and more freedom. So, I will side with the indians who have those things, and work to make sure those of us who do not live on reservations also enjoy those opportunities. So, I will target those who deserve to be targeted - government.
Bingo. You nailed it, Mr. Mayor.
> An easy way to think about this is to think of an indian nation as a state - answerable to the federal government but not other states. Does that make sense?
Only if the other states are called "sovereign nations," which i don;t think they are.
Anyway, even if so, that would not negate the idea of border control. California, for example, has border stops at Donner Pass (or nearby) and I've seen them elsewhere. They check your car for fruits and veggies and ferrets. A similar stop to check for smokes and booze and whatnot would thus seem equally applicable
SUre, we've had standoffs. My own people, in Canada, held the police at bay for quite some time. Of course, the reasons were because of more government regulations, violation of treaty rights, and overall government interference into everything and anything they could. Of course, that was Canada, but the U.S. is fast approaching that level of government micromanagement.
I am excluding the left-wing "indian" groups, though, because they are merely using Indian issues as just another weapon in their assault against this country...
Well, personally I'm amazed that the people stand for those checkpoints. I believe those checkpoints to be as illegal as hell, and should be fought by any freedom-minded person. I feel the same about so-called "Seatbelt" and "DUI" checkpoints...
Now, that being said, I tend to also view the various states as "dependent sovereign nations" that are united. Of course nowadays they are not like that, and are merely vassals of the federal government.
I'd like to see that changed, too. ;0)
I wouldn't say fault, more like taking advantage. I think that made me a little bit mad was some, not necessarily you(you were coming kinda of close, though, IMO) to knee jerkingly bring up race when the economic advantage is brought up. I would be giving the Indian tribes huzzahs if they spent their political contributions on those who wish to cut taxes for everybody and not on those who protect their monopoly.
I hope that I didn't step on your toes, that was not my intent.
An idea for the Libertarian party, maybe should go to the Indian tribes and tell them to sell pot, crack, and heroin, open bordellos and such. Then when we can see if their notions(LP) of a peaceful prosperous society with all those things unfettered is a reality.
Hawaii does the same(obviously not a car coming from another state) but airplane passengers luggage.
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