It’s not just Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour who opposes a planned Choctaw Indian casino in upstate Laurel (birthplace of soprano Leontyne Price). Several other Bayou State bigwigs have expressed displeasure. Now the governor’s taking the Choctaws to court, although it’s looking like a futile gesture.
Barbour’s challenge rests upon the assertion that “the policy of this state [is] to develop destination gaming for the economic benefit of all Mississippians.” Unfortunately for the governor, the Indian Gaming Regulation Act doesn’t give a tinker’s damn what state policy might be. It was certainly not “state policy” during the Gov. Jeb Bush administration for Florida to sprout a number of Class III Seminole Tribe casinos. However, once Miami-area voters approved slot machines at privately owned parimutuels the genie was out of the bottle, never to be put back. (Bush nixed a 2012 presidential run today, doubtless to the relief of Native American tribes who witnessed his “Call me Bwana” attitude toward the Seminoles.)
Further tying Barbour’s hands is the existing tribal-state compact. Since there’s no longer any hope of protesting the compact itself, Barbour’s left with the state-policy argument. In view of the number of states in which tribal gambling has flourished without any regard to gubernatorial druthers, Barbour’s tent-pole argument looks like a slender reed.
Haley Barbour is a corporate tool who is drunk with oil money. Alot of people think he will run for POTUS in 2012. His ties to corporate interests that trump all, and his behavior during the Deepwater blow out are clear indicators of his attraction to Republicans. The fact that he would be hostile to Native American interests is no shock.
Having lived in Oklahoma, the phrase “hostile to Native American interests” just doesn’t compute.
Barbour’s argument has zero chance, IMO. Even more telling of his futility is his chastisement of the Attorne General for telling the Choctaws the State’s options in the case. This isn’t Spy vs Spy! Maybe he doesn’t understand that the Choctaw Nation are American citizens, just like him.
I am all in favor of Indian casinos. I just don’t like to gamble in them with Las Vegas only 4 hours of driving away. The ones in Southern California have lousy video poker pay scales. The good part of Indian gaming is that they allow 18 year olds in. Great for poker table action. My brother refers to that as “playing with the kids”. Easy pickings…
Mike, you said, “The ones in Southern California have lousy video poker pay scales.”
I live in SoCal, but I haven’t been to any Indian casinos. I go to Vegas – comped stays & $75 round-trip bus trips.
I assumed that Indian casinos had sort of comparable video poker pay tables, but I must be wrong. Can you give us some idea of Indian pay tables, or point us to a site that lists them – like some sites do for Vegas? Thanks!
My payscale expertise comes from visits to several San Diego area Indian casinos, and one in Palm Springs. The payscales were abysmal IMHO, even worse than LV Strip hotels. My friend went to San Manuel and reported on terrible payscales there as well. My theory is that the Indians have a monopoly on slots, so there is no competition like there is in Vegas.
A fuller version of AG Hood’s opinion is linked below. Basically, he’s sympathetic to Gov. Barbour’s position but is hamstrung by the breadth of the language drafted by the late Gov. Fordice. It looks like Barbour’s lawsuit is going to be an expensive exercise in futility.
http://www.sunherald.com/2010/07/20/2345297/hood-no-basis-to-halt-choctaw.html
– Thanks, Mike. Thanks for the warning. Although I don’t always remember to check the pay tables in Vegas; I’ll make a point to do so if I go to Indian casinos.
– I hope that if Barbour runs for President as the Great gNOp hope, his opponent(s) remind voters of his fiscal responsibility:
“It looks like Barbour’s lawsuit is going to be an expensive exercise in futility.”