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2005 Conference Highlights
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States Rise Up Against Off-reservation Tribal Casinos
News from 2005 NCALG Press Conference
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Congressman Wolf charges Republicans
& Bush with 'Moral Failure' on Gambling
“The failure of the
administration to address this issue -- to speak out boldly on this
issue, quite frankly, is a moral failure,” Frank Wolf told the 2005 NCALG
conference.
Wolf
Video
(Windows Media video)
News Release
_____________________
FRANK WOLF . . .
"As a Republican I will tell you I am very disappointed in the Bush
administration and in President Bush that he has not spoken out on
this."
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Alicia Hanson of
The Tax Foundation
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Renowned 'Tax Foundation'
emphasizes
'Lotteries' are 'Taxes'
Arguably the best known citizen advocacy group in the field of taxation is
The Tax Foundation. They're the people who calculate the annual "Tax
Freedom" day for Americans. Alicia Hanson outlines why lotteries are just
plain bad tax policy.
Ms. Hanson's presentation at 2005 NCALG conference
Conference
Text
Video
(Windows Media Video)
Tax Foundation publication on Lotteries
Text
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Native American Activist Blasts Gambling
"Perspective on Tribal Gambling From a Mohawk Perspective" by The Rev.
James Audlin (Distant Eagle) discusses gambling's spiritual, cultural and
political damage to Native Americans.
2005 NCALG Presentation
Conference
Text
Video
(Windows Media Video)________________________________ |
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The "Gambling Neutral" conundrum
of the "Treatment Community"
John Stansfield, CEO of New
Zealand Problem Gambling Foundation explains how the addiction treatment
community too often panders to the cause while profiting from the treatment
of gambling addiction.
2005 Conference
Presentation
Conference
Text
PowerPoint
Slides
Windows Media
Video
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Legislative Panel
Kelli Sobonya of West Virginia
"For gambling to win, someone has to lose.
Over $3 billion is spent on gambling in WV every year. That is nearly the
size of our entire state budget. With all the forms of gambling, if it is so
good for our state, why are we last in the nation in per capita income?"
2005 Conference
Presentation
Sobonya Speech Outline
Text
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Laws, lawsuits in future tobacco-like action on gambling
With pressure from
citizen action and public health advocates, lawmakers and lawyers may soon
begin to hold the gambling industry responsible for the damage it creates.
Jeff Benedict, president of the Connecticut Alliance Against Casino
Expansion. In 2003 Benedict partnered with Connecticut Attorney General
Richard Blumenthal to lead an effort to enact landmark legislation to stop
casino expansion in the state. In 2000 Benedict published Without
Reservation: How a Controversial Indian Tribe Rose to Power and Built the
World’s Largest Casino.
Windows Media
Video
Top Sports
Writer Outlines Damage Gambling Does to Athletes, Athletics
Lester Munson
began writing for Sports Illustrated in the summer of
1991 and became a permanent member of SI’s staff a year later. He is now
considered one of the magazine’s top experts in the areas of legal affairs
and investigations. Munson is also a legal analyst for CNN/Sports
Illustrated, and is a perfect candidate to discuss the effects of gambling
on professional and amateur sports. Windows Media
Video
Tribe trumps State as Law Officer Blows
Whistle on Casino
Brad Beecher had worked as an investigator for the Mohegan ribal Gaming
Commission after retiring from the Connecticut State Police, where his last
assignment was as commander of the State Police Casino & Licensing Unit.
Beecher said his relationship with his employers deteriorated when he became
critical of the tribe’s regulatory practices. The tribes sued to silence
Beecher until after they had purchased the Pocono Downs racetrack in
Pennsylvania.When Beecher counter-sued, the tribe claimed “soverign immunity
in the same court. Windows Media
Video
Stats Show States Cheating
Public with Lottery Ads and Numbers
Gerald Busald, San Antonio College mathematics professor, has been a
critic of the Texas Lottery, as his statistics students have identified
misleading language in lottery ads, cited incorrect statements of the odds
of winning, and found inaccuracies in lottery reports. His students have
become so fascinated with lottery odds -- and the public’s relentless
attempts to defy them -- they’ve developed a lottery-intelligence quotient
called “Mega-Q.” Windows Media (Broadband) Video
Three Activists Prove There Are
Ways to Win!
 When
Maryland Gov. “Casino Bob” Erlich launched a campaign to balance his state’s
budget on the backs of slot machine gamblers, The Rev. Jonathan Weaver
knew many of those who would suffer the consequences were members of the
already struggling D.C. area African American communities. Weaver ignited
the religious communities and together they mobilized more than 2,000 people
to a Ways and Means committee hearing! That plus “Stop Slots Sundays” and
other efforts held slots at bay.
Windows Media
Video
The Rev. Jonathan Weaver
Mark and Pat Andrews are among the driving force against gambling in
Missouri. The Casino Watch and GRIEF programs mobilize voters and activists
across the state to stem the tide of gambling. The stakes are high in
Missouri where even the casinos have come to recognize there are between
60,000 and 100,000 serious gambling addicts. Windows Media
Video
Audray Johnson knows the costs of the
burgeoning Indian casino and lottery programs in California where
politicians continue to try to fund the deepening fiscal crisis with more
gambling (which, in turn, creates a greater economic crisis) . Californians
against gambling have filed suit to stop the state from joining a Mega
Lottery that violated its own laws! Windows Media
Video
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Call for
President Bush, Congress to End Approval of Off-Reservation Casinos
States Rise Up Against Off-reservation Tribal Casinos
(WASHINGTON, D.C.)- On the heels of the Jack Abramoff scandal and
the McCain hearings, the issue of Native American casinos became even
hotter Oct. 7 as citizens from almost 25 states traveled to the nation’s
capitol for a press conference calling on President Bush and Congress to
end the approval of off-reservation casinos.
Long
considered an issue for the states, it marked the first time that
citizens from across the country, including California, New York,
Illinois and Texas, converged on Washington in an effort to call
attention to this problem.
Attendees called on the Bush Administration to initiate a two-year
moratorium on off-reservation casino development, commonly referred to
as “reservation shopping.” Increasingly, casino developers are seeking
approval from the federal government to develop Indian casinos on
non-Indian lands. These facilities are then exempt from local and state
laws and taxing powers.
“A
two-year moratorium would provide Congress the necessary time required
to re-examine the Indian Gaming law and close loopholes that have been
exploited by developers and gambling tycoons,” said Jeff Benedict, the
Connecticut attorney and author whose landmark book Without
Reservation triggered a national debate on problems stemming from
Indian casinos. “These loopholes have exploited tribes, ignored states
and done grave harm to local communities and countless private
citizens.” Over 30 states are now involved in litigation with tribes,
casino developers or the federal government over casino-related disputes
ranging from land use regulations to taxes.
Benedict pointed to statistics that demonstrate how
casino gambling is transforming communities and unleashing far-reaching
societal impacts. For example:
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75% of Americans now live within driving distance
to a casino;
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Americans now spend $600 billion a year on
gambling, versus $400 billion on food;
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80% of teenagers today have gambled within the
previous year;
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Compulsive gambling is up 50 percent since
casinos were legalized on Indian lands;
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In that same time period, U.S. bankruptcies rose
from 770,000 to 1.3 million.
Other
speakers included Dr. Doug Herthel, a veterinarian, from southern
California whose state is swirling in controversy over Native American
casinos, and Neil Murray, the New York lawyer at the center of a tribal
gambling lawsuit on its way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The
event was organized by the National Coalition Against Gambling
Expansion, a nationwide political organization opposing the
proliferation of gambling in America.
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WATCH:
Wolf
Video
(Windows Media video)
_____________________
FRANK WOLF . . . "As a Republican
I will tell you I am very disappointed in the Bush administration and in
President Bush that he has not spoken out on this."
“The failure of the
administration to address this issue -- to speak out boldly on this
issue, quite frankly, is a moral failure,” Frank Wolf told the 2005 NCALG
conference.
Wolf, (R-VA) said
gambling issues are a test for all politicians as he addressed the
National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling in Washington, DC, Oct. 7.
“You can’t really be in the political process without taking a position
in this issue,” he said.
Wolf charged the
Republican Party, the administration and President Bush with supporting
the gambling industry with their silence. “Silence is acquiescence,” he
charged.
Wolf
noted when Bush was Governor of Texas he didn’t want to bring in
gambling, but his silence since becoming president has led to “all sorts
of bad things happening at the department of interior and other places.”
“Now we
see, as if our nation isn’t saturated enough with gambling, a group of
investors this spring announced plans to try to open a casino two miles
from historic Gettysburg, (a heritage) which has meant so much to our
country. …
Wolf said 63 members
of Congress have now signed onto his September letter insisting that
gulf coast casinos should not be awarded tax breaks intended to help the
poor displaced by hurricanes in Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. He
said gambling industry lobbyists are now pressuring Congressmen to take
their names back off the letter. The letter challenges “Gulf Opportunity
Zone” provisions that would give companies like MGM Grand tax breaks of
upwards of $50 million each to rebuild casinos damaged in the storms.”
Wolf questioned why
struggling families, the elderly and other businesses should pay taxes
to benefit an industry that is booming and doesn’t need help. “We want
to help the poor, the needy and the vulnerable,” he said, but he
gambling conglomerates “don’t need it.” Wolf said the casino companies
all had insurance, probably even “business interruption” insurance, and
simply don’t need tax breaks to rebuild. Economists, even in
Mississippi, have called the casino tax break proposals a “complete
waste of money.”
Wolf also chided the
Bush administration for claiming they “lack the authority” to implement
a two-year moratorium on new tribal casinos Wolf asked for in May. The
fiery congressman charged casinos have done little to help the grinding
poverty of most Native Americans since the Indian Gambling Regulatory
Act (IGRA) passed nearly 20 years ago. He said disease rates, crowded
homes, infant mortality and other social problems still plague the 80
percent of Native Americans who get no benefits from the now more than
400 Indian casinos that dot 30 of the States. He wants Congress to
revise IGRA to prevent “reservation shopping” by white promoters who use
tribes to drive casinos into urban areas.
Two and a half years
ago, Wolf introduced legislation to tackle the real drivers of social
disadvantage on Indian reservations, but his attempt failed on both
sides of the aisle. He said, rather than helping the poor, gambling
targets those who most need help.
A self-described
“mainline Presbyterian,” Wolf chided religious organizations for their
apparent disinterest as well. “Jesus talks a lot about the poor. I will
maintain, there are probably more references in the bible with regard to
the poor than probably any other issue. It has been somewhat puzzling to
me and frankly disappointing that there have not been more churches --
who surely agree with us -- who have not spoken out more. My church has
passed a resolution, but they haven’s ‘come to town.’ They haven’t
actively lobbied . . .This is an opportunity for you to embrace
something, to help the poor (and) really be involved. |
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