Schwarzenegger Ally Hired by Casino Firm

LA Times - Recall Notebook ^ | 09/25/03

[gubamyster]

Bonnie Reiss, a longtime aide to Arnold Schwarzenegger, has been named to the board of directors of a company that owns several casinos in Nevada and has a major interest in the Hollywood Park card club. Reiss' connection with Pinnacle Entertainment could provide a line of attack for Schwarzenegger's political rivals. The candidate has been attacking Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante and state Sen. Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks) over the campaign contributions they receive from Indian tribes that run casinos. Pinnacle's casinos and card clubs compete with the tribal casinos for gambling business. A spokesman for Schwarzenegger denied any conflict. "Mr. Schwarzenegger doesn't sit on the board, one of his dear friends does," said campaign advisor Rob Stutzman. "What corrupts politics is the millions of dollars that goes to Bustamante and McClintock." Pinnacle owns and operates seven casinos in Nevada, Mississippi, Louisiana, Indiana and Argentina, according to a statement from the company.

[ElkGroveDan]

More on Bonnie
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/979591/posts

[tallhappy]

My comments earlier were not simply idle ramblings.

[Roscoe]

Bonnie Reiss, a longtime aide to Arnold Schwarzenegger, has been named to the board of directors of a company that owns several casinos in Nevada and has a major interest in the Hollywood Park card club.

Hmmm.

[ambrose]

Wait... you mean Arnold hates Indian casinos because his handlers are getting major payola from Nevada casinos?

[Carry_Okie]

Reiss was a co-author of Arnold's environmental policy with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

[tallhappy]

The gambling wars are on their way. Schwarzenegger will probably side with the Hollywood Park/Nevada concerns.

To oppose the Indian interests they will move to allow Nevada gambling to undercut the tribes.

It is not good.

Indian gaming is a big enough problem Nevada interests is worse.

[mgstarr]

Glad to see desperation isn't setting in here.

[Roscoe]

Schwarzenegger has a Democrat representative of Nevada casinos in his campaign. Imagine that.

[ambrose]

Indian gaming is already pretty bad. The Indians are starting to buy plots of land in suburban communities and declaring such land their "reservation"... and then building casinos right on top of them. There's one such example right outside of Sacramento right now. Arnold's decision to take on the Indians was one of the few things I liked about his campaign... but if he's just going after the Indians at the behest of Nevada casinos?? ... No thanks.

[Roscoe]

A tribal casino pays more state taxes to California than a Nevada casino.

[kingu]

The gambling wars are on their way. Schwarzenegger will probably side with the Hollywood Park/Nevada concerns.

There's been quite rumblings of this for years, with people in the legislature trying to squeeze in changes to card clubs and race tracks to legalize virtually every form of gaming.

The biggest problem is that the politicos have ignored that the card clubs are breaking the law, and no one is enforcing it.. They enforced it against the tribes, but the card clubs have seemed to be immune even after court decisions go against them. The clubs and the tracks know how to play dirty politics, in ways that make Indian politics look tame.

Though, at the end of the day, the tribes made targets of themselves with their triple-donating to Bustamante, Davis and Tom.

[isthisnickcool]

Look at their cute little faces. Shortly after this picture was taken Arnold Schwarzenegger killed, cooked and ate these dogs. I'm so dissapointed in him. Please tell everyone you know!

[gubamyster]

Look at their cute little faces. Shortly after this picture was taken Arnold Schwarzenegger killed, cooked and ate these dogs. I'm so dissapointed in him. Please tell everyone you know!

How sad. I'm sure if they were illegal alien puppies he would have been much more sympathetic to their needs.

[isthisnickcool]

How sad. I'm sure if they were illegal alien puppies he would have been much more sympathetic to their needs.

Maybe not, these are Chihuahuas.....

[tallhappy]

Are there many casinos in Texas?

[Roscoe]

Looks like she was the one who brought Lowe into the campaign.

"Bonnie Reiss, a Democratic strategist for the campaign, told the Times that she's met with Lowe and will be working with him."

http://www.thehometownchannel.com/entertainment/2408999/detail.html

[PeoplesRep_of_LA]

This Bonnie is such a disaster.

Overall, somebody needs to give (R)nold some advice, don't you agree?

[The KG9 Kid]

"... The Indians are starting to buy plots of land in suburban communities and declaring such land their "reservation"... and then building casinos right on top of them."

'Starting'? That's all over the place. The city of Rohnert Park made an agreement with a local Indian band some fifty years ago about some land they bought in exchange for twice as much relocated city property in another remote area. The tribe recently hired some hotshot lawyers to plead the case that the land directly in the middle of Rohnert Park is their 'reservation' and guess what they want to put up there: A big fat casino.

No disrespect to the Indians and the history of abuse the US government heaped upon them, but some of these phony-baloney Indian tribes have gone far beyond absurd with their demands.

I had a pal get a hefty fine (enforced by Federal law) by Indian Tribal Police for parking his car on an open dirt lot between two buildings in Bullhead City AZ. Seems that this quarter-acre triangular patch of dirt near the river was 'Indian Land', and the tribal police flew out in their GMC SUVs to search his car and give him a ticket that amounted to hundreds of dollars. The real reservation was dozens of miles away. The US Federal government forced him to pay the fine.

On one hand Indian tribes fake a lot of dramatics over 'racist' sports mascots, and on the other hand it's 'Come down to Cash Creek Indian Casino! Chief Wampum will meet you at the Payoff Pow-Wow! Heap big loose slots, Kemosabe!'.

I am surprised that Alcatraz Island isn't a glittery neon-bathed mega casino already.

[Roscoe]

More than an ally, campaign strategist.