John McCarthy: The race card in Minnesota's racino debate

Wednesday, May 4, 2011  

"It is sad to see that at least some of the support for gambling expansion comes from "old Indian fighters" whose trademark is hate speech against Native Americans.

The April 29 commentary by Gary Larson is a perfect example. The column is nothing but misinformation and race-baiting.

It is simply wrong to claim that tribal casinos are untaxed. In fact, they are taxed at a rate of 100 percent.

That means that all of the proceeds from tribal casinos go directly to the tribal governments that operate them. In this they are like the Minnesota Lottery, which is operated by the state, with all proceeds after prizes going to the state.

In both cases, government gaming proceeds are used to provide for the needs of citizens in areas like health care, education, economic development, housing, elder services, law enforcement, emergency services and infrastructure maintenance."

Get the Story:
John McCarthy: Column put the 'race' in racino proposal (The Minneapolis Star Tribune 5/4)

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