"Sticking casinos out in the country is probably not a gambling policy Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would create if he had started with a blank slate.

He didn't have one, of course. He inherited a history of oppression of American Indians in California, voter approval of Indian gambling, federal law establishing Indian rights, widespread community opposition to casinos nearby, and the undeniable fact that they make money, money and more money.

Schwarzenegger has deftly balanced those competing interests. He has set a policy honoring the state's obligation to permit casinos on federally recognized tribal lands, generally rural, but resisting the spread of gambling to newly acquired urban sites."

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Editorial: Schwarzenegger knows when to hold 'em (The San Jose Mercury News 5/23)
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