Last week, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) demanded tribes share $350 million a year of their gaming profits or risk losing their exclusive rights to Class III gaming. Readers respond, mostly against the proposal.

Mark Kramer: "Pawlenty's grab for one of the few financial hopes of this community is just one more attempt to take what they have and we want. Governor, were there buffalo hunters among your forefathers?"

John Farrell: "I'd like to salute Gov. Tim Pawlenty for maintaining our time-honored tradition of plundering wealth from Native Americans."

Blair Sorvari: "Hurray for Tim Pawlenty! If the tribes don't play ball, build a huge casino/restaurant complex in between two new stadiums in Blaine. Surround the whole place with a parking lot friendly to tailgating, and everyone wins."

Katherine Eggers: "I read with dismay about our governor's plan to blackmail Minnesota's Native American people. In exchange for a tidy $350 million a year, he will allow them to continue with their monopoly on gambling within our state."

Michael McKenzie: "For the Pawlenty administration, in asking Indian tribes to share casino gambling revenues with the state, to have the audacity to tell the tribes of Minnesota that "a deal is a deal" is indeed embarrassing. It shows a lack of historical understanding of how many ways and times we have neglected to adhere to our side of any agreement with them."

Jeremy Kurtz: "It looks as if the governor has figured out a way reduce the deficit, break his pledge, divide the races, and strengthen his base all on the backs of the native community. Shameful."

Steve Brothers: "Tim Pawlenty's pitch for more money from tribes is the beginning of the moral decay of our state, and a big money grab. As soon as we turn to gambling to pay for the democratic mandate of education we become morally bankrupt. What's next -- pulltabs for textbooks?"

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Letters from readers (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 10/23)
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Letters from readers (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 10/24)
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