Opinion: Eastern Cherokee compact will boost state economy

Wednesday, December 7, 2011  

"Your Dec. 1 editorial "Loaded deck" was seriously misconceived. You dismiss the jobs and income the Cherokee casino has brought to a poverty-stricken part of the state over the past decade and cite specious claims to disparage the benefits likely to flow from the recently concluded agreement between the tribe and Gov. Beverly Perdue to permit table games.

Connecting this agreement with the decades-old efforts of the Lumbees to achieve federal acknowledgment makes no sense at all. The two issues are totally unrelated. Lumbee recognition depends on Congress and there is nothing the Lumbees can do to achieve it that they have not already done.

Then you suggest that somehow the addition of table games at the Cherokee casino will turn North Carolina into Mississippi, which has neither mountains nor the Outer Banks. It is hard to imagine the day when the Cherokee casino will overwhelm either in the minds of the traveling public."

Get the Story:
Michael D. Green: Cherokee table games mean economic boost (The Charlotte News & Observer 12/7)

Related Stories:
Editorial: Don't rush approval of Eastern Cherokee gaming deal (12/5)
Editorial: Consider side effects of Eastern Cherokee compact (12/1)
Editorial: Debate consequences of Eastern Cherokee compact (11/30)
Lawmakers not rushing to pass Eastern Cherokee casino pact (11/29)
Eastern Cherokees announce a new Class III gaming compact (11/28)