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Jewish World Review July 1, 2005 / 24 Sivan, 5765 A tale of Washington corruption By Rich Lowry
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
The Senate Indian Affairs Committee held a high-profile hearing
last week into the shady work of Republican Party lobbyist Jack
Abramoff, who is accused of fleecing Indian tribes. Everyone
professed great hand-wringing sympathy for the tribes over how badly
they had allegedly been treated. Oh, please. This is a trail of
tears partly of their own making.
In one of the most famous cases, Abramoff lobbied on behalf of
the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, which spent gobs of money to try
to keep a tribal competitor from opening a casino that would eat
into its own lucrative casino profits. The only principle at stake
here was cash, cash and more cash. And tribes now complain about
Abramoff's greed? "They were trying to protect their stash," says
the Rev. Tom Grey of The National Coalition Against Legalized
Gambling.
Abramoff has garnered extensive coverage because of his
proximity to Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, but the
process by which tribes get casinos was hardly an example of clean
government before Abramoff started getting rich off it. If you have
obscenely well-heeled special interests — i.e., certain Indian
tribes — dependent for their wealth on the obscure decisions of
Washington bureaucrats, it would be shocking if corruption wasn't
the result.
Out of roughly 350 Indian tribes in the continental U.S., more
than 250 host gambling operations, garnering $18.5 billion a year.
They pour a portion of that cash into congressional contributions
($10 million in the last election cycle) and lobbying, all meant to
protect and expand their moneymaking casinos. Abramoff and associate
Michael Scanlon earned $32 million in three years from the Coushatta
Tribe, which seems like a lot until you realize that the tribe of
837 people makes $300 million a year from its casino, according to
Michael Crowley of The New Republic.
Tribes need federal recognition and their lands to be put in
trust in order to open casinos. Getting these approvals from the
Interior Department's Bureau of Indian Affairs makes for some of
Washington's dirtiest dealing. Under the Clinton administration, the
Interior Department was politicized, and Democrats milked tribes for
contributions. Two-thirds of Indian congressional donations still go
to Democrats, according to Crowley.
Gambling opponents hoped President Bush would clean up the BIA.
Instead, GOP politicians and lobbyists now milk casino-hungry
Indians in turn. Bush spoke out against gambling in the 2000
campaign, but has gone silent since. "You have a pattern of people
close to Bush making money off the BIA," says Grey. A few months
ago, Bush's head of the BIA, Dave Anderson, resigned over
conflict-of-interest charges.
Reformers want a moratorium on BIA recognitions of new tribes,
many of which are dubious fronts for gambling interests. No fewer
than 200 tribes are now petitioning for recognition. These tribes
would happily hire Abramoff if he were available. The General
Accounting Office has warned that BIA decisions have less to do with
the merits and "more to do with the resources that petitioners and
third parties can marshal to develop a successful political
strategy."
And reformers want to end the revolving door that has former BIA
officials becoming representatives of casino-hungry tribes. In a
notorious case, the Ione Band in California experienced what some
members considered a kind of hostile takeover by former BIA
officials and their relatives who are now in a position to profit
handsomely if its proposed $100 million casino is built.
Don't expect change at the BIA soon — too many people are
getting too rich. Including the kind of greedy Indian tribes that
found a natural partner in Jack Abramoff.
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© 2005 King Features Syndicate |
Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
