COUNTY GOVERNMENTS OPPOSE FEE LAND TO TRUST

COUNTY GOVERNMENTS OPPOSE FEE LAND TO TRUST
By Kathy Cleary, Guest Columnist


Everyone knows that the politicians who have been controlling our country have been selling out the Constitution – acting either as prostitutes for money or destructionists for increased government power.

Federal Indian Policy has been one of the weapons used with the purpose of increasing government power by dismantling the Constitution.


The fact that Federal Indian Policy is unconstitutional is obvious to anyone who takes a second to think about it. How can creating “sovereign nations” within the United States – allowing the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), a federal agency, to create governments based on race, that function under their own tribal constitutions with little to no oversight, transfer fee land into federal trust (removing land from local and state jurisdiction) for purposes such as operating casinos where the tribal government pays no tax on the profit, have no accountability and can actually become hostile to the surrounding community or to their own tribal members for that matter, and use their casino millions to contribute to politicians, something no other foreign/sovereign government is allowed to do – how can this be Constitutional? It can’t be and it isn’t.

To add insult to injury, a huge percentage of real Indians do not benefit from tribal casinos; some estimates are that only 5% benefit. Powerful casinos tribes use lobbyists and even shadier means to insure they will have no other casino competition. And the vast majority of gamblers bussed in and losing money in Indian casinos earn $50,000 or less a year.

Indian tribe casinos are now a $25 billion industry and the largest special-interest donors to campaigns, surpassing the teachers unions and trial lawyers unions.

It should, therefore, come as no surprise that casino tribes would turn to their favorite politicians when the truth came to light and the Supreme Court ruled that only Indian tribes under federal jurisdiction in 1934 were eligible for the benefits of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA).

This means the BIA is not supposed to be creating Indian tribes and putting land into trust for them.

This is a major blow to the BIA and big gambling interests who have been having a heyday making up tribes for the purpose of a casino and its hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue that is not subject to tax. Some of these shams have only one or two members, and some may have little or no Indian blood at all, as our research found here in Santa Ynez, yet they demand sovereignty and the entitlement to expand their tribal land by “reacquiring” their “aboriginal territory.” Jeff Benedict, in his book Without Reservation, carefully documented the fabrication of the tribe behind Foxwoods, the largest casino in the world.

In the litigation that made it to the Supreme Court, the governor of Rhode Island, Gov. Donald Carcieri, was courageous enough to challenge the casino tribes. Historically, in almost every other situation across the country, local government sided with the casino tribes, ignoring the skyrocketing crime and other public harm, and forcing citizen groups to do private research and file lawsuits against the federal government themselves. Preservation of Los Olivos, POLO, and Preservation of Santa Ynez, POSY, initiated just such a lawsuit in 2005 to achieve the right of standing to object to tribal land expansion. Prior to this lawsuit the BIA routinely ignored all community objections and said the community did not have standing to oppose their decisions. After six years, and costing almost $2 million, POLO and POSY achieved standing and now await a decision by the BIA.

Because the BIA and casino tribes are now being challenged by facts, they are attempting to use their prostitute or destructionist politician allies to overcome the facts for what they call a “Clean Carcieri Fix,” legislation to circumvent the Supreme Court. I am not making this up. A “Clean Fix” – this is what the Obama Administration calls it and is pressing for.

Communities harmed by casino tribes wrote letters of protest to the Fix. They were heartened when the National Association of Counties wrote a letter objecting, stating, “The current federal fee to trust process as exercised under the IRA and as used under the ‘restored lands’ exception to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) is contrary to the original legislative intent; is without clear and enforceable standards; does not take into account county interests; and, at times, interferes with county ability to provide essential services to the community.”

Santa Barbara County also sent a letter opposing the Fix stating, “This approach fails to address the legitimate and long-standing concerns of States and local governments regarding the systemic flaws in the current fee to trust process…. The County opposes any legislation that would erode the land use authority of local governments.”

Thankfully, the earmark for the Fix was removed and the Fix was not voted on. Unfortunately, this was not the first attempt at a fix to allow the creation of untold numbers of new governments, and it may not be the last. We will see if our newly elected politicians have more integrity than their immoral predecessors.

Citizen groups are a huge force behind holding our government accountable. Although corrupted politicians promoting this separatism do not seem to remember, we know that “a house divided against itself cannot stand.” We need your continued financial support. Donations can be made online at www.polosyv.org or mailed to POLO, PO Box 722, Los Olivos, CA 93441.


To see the letters written by the National Association of Counties and Santa Barbara County, and to see POLO’s latest submissions to the BIA, go to www.polosyv.org.