Over the last five years, the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation has received more than $4.5 million in grants from the Interior Department and the Department of Health and Human Services, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act. The Mohegans have cashed in, too. We find it appalling that tribes owning casinos would seek the same grant money that aims to help poor tribes on reservations in the West. "The whole purpose of the 1988 law which authorized Indian casinos was to help federally recognized tribes raise money to run their governments by building casinos on their reservations," Robert Steele, a former Connecticut congressman, told The AP. "I would argue strongly that federal money was meant for struggling tribes. Certainly the Mashantucket Pequots and the Mohegans couldn't under any circumstances be put in that category."Get the Story:
Editorial: That's Uncle Sam at the craps table (The Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise 3/26) Another Opinion:
Editorial: Wealthy tribes on the dole (The Waterbury Republican-American 3/26)
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