"Few people realize that San Diego County is arguably the gambling capital of California.

We have five first-rate hotel/casinos plus another three smaller casinos.

More casinos are on the planning board. All are owned by small local Indian tribes ---- and, we must note that not all tribes have casinos.

Many folks worry about the morality of gambling. And the problems for compulsive gamblers are well documented. But my concern is the de facto granting of gambling monopolies to a tiny portion of our population ---- about 30,000 people in a state of 38 million.

It's certainly not the Indians' fault.

Quite the contrary. They saw an opportunity to legally draw gamblers to their reservations. They could count on state and local governments to ban most non-Indian competition ---- up to and including imprisoning competitors.

But the unintended consequences of this monopoly needs better vetting. Along with the lack of fairness, there's the problem of the disproportionate amount of political power that comes with such concentrated wealth. And it has a down side for the tribal members as well.

Do you know the one thing you won't see in an Indian casino? Indians! Aside from a few tribal leaders who oversee the casino contractor's money collection in the back rooms, almost no Indians work there."

Get the Story:
Richard Rider of the San Diego Tax Fighters: End the Indian gaming monopoly (The North County Times 4/10)