Blog: 'Hatchet job' on McCain and Indian gaming

Wednesday, October 1, 2008  

"The New York Times, a shrill partisan voice, assails John McCain in yet another misleading, loaded-for-bear "expose." All in a day's work for the partisan gray lady. Not exactly your October Surprise, but close.

Truth is, McCain has distanced himself from Indian “gaming” after first supporting it, for the benefits it provided to impoverished tribes. That was behind the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 (IGRA), the late Representative “Mo” Udall's (D-AZ) eternal gift to tribes. Today, as a result, Indian casinos dot the national landscape, fast-becoming over $20 billion-plus annual business. And for politicians, like Willy Sutton, it's where the money is, attracting interest like bees to honey.

On the stump, McCain calls it a business “out of control.” Much of the public agrees. Indians with casinos do not, of course. They now seek their “adversary's” defeat. Opening up anonymously to the Times is one way to skin a cat.

Yes, McCain has proposed to reform IGRA. For this he is an object of scorn in self-dealing, cash-disbursing Indian casinoland. (His bill to reform IGRA, by the way, was shot down by non-reform Democrats. They, not the “Rs,” despite Abramhoff headlines, receive more from casino-rich tribes in political contributions and vote support. Facts like these are not widely distributed by liberal media; it's Katy bar the door!)

McCain singles out Indian “gaming” as one of three national issues “out of control.” (The others are federal spending and illegal immigration.) For this he now takes hits from American Indians, newly enfranchised politically, from their cash cow casinos. Some of them, in this unevenly done piece, lob acerbic criticism of the senator from Arizona. And the sun also rises in the East.."

Get the Story:
Hatchet Job Slashes at McCain for his Casino Positions (The Intellectual Conservative 10/1)