Opinion: Gaming shows no benefits for tribes

Monday, September 12, 2005  

"The Journal Star editorial on tribal casinos missed some key considerations.

First, gambling has not shown itself to be a boon for tribes. Dr. Rudi Mitchell of the Omaha tribe notes Natives suffer among the highest rates of gambling addiction of any ethnic group. The American Indian Culture and Research Journal identifies 42 percent of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa and 59 percent of Devil’s Lake Sioux in North Dakota as compulsive or probable pathological gamblers.

Second, where is the Journal Star’s outrage that slot machines are operating in Nebraska with no apparent government opposition — less than a year after Nebraska voters rejected their legalization?

Federal law allows tribes to have bingo. On Sept. 23, 2003, in a bizarre ruling, Penny Coleman, acting general counsel for the National Indian Gaming Commission, declared that a video slot machine with a postage stamp size bingo card in the corner of the screen is … BINGO!"

Get the Story:
Pat Loontjer: 'Bingo' machines offer no salvation (The Lincoln Journal Star 9/10)