Current Comments
It’s hard to compete with casino
As readers probably know, Three Rivers Casino in Florence has been
completed.
What they may not know is that casinos purchase their hard alcohol
directly from the Oregon Liquor Control Commission, paying just 5 percent
over cost. We retailers pay state liquor stores about double, which
includes all the taxes from which the tribes are exempt.
Bars and restaurants in the Florence-Mapleton area have taken a hard
economic hit of between 10 percent and 30 percent to our gross incomes.
We pay property taxes and the tribes do not.
Gaming revenues paid to the Oregon Lottery have taken a large hit.
Money for schools has dwindled because of it. The lottery funds schools;
tribal casinos do not.
Oregon's Democratic governors blew it from the beginning. They should
have negotiated a compact to get a cut of the gaming proceeds. Additionally,
the OLCC continues to give the tribes a free ride.
I do not resent the casino. If I were allowed, I would build a casino
of my own. And if I did not have to pay taxes, I wouldn't.
I do not resent the public patronizing the casino. It is a beautiful
facility with which we cannot compete.
I would ask that as you travel to the casino, please patronize a local
restaurant and/or bar.
Frank A. Wilson, owner
Frank's Place, Mapleton, Oregon
http://www.registerguard.com
(Letters to Editor, 2/16/08)
04/22/06 - Casino mistakes
The Indian casino issue is a tragedy from an ethical standpoint.
To better understand the issue, first examine the validity of the motivations
behind our policies.
For example, "They were here first" is not an ethical motivation
for our failed policies. It is a sympathetic one. Many countries have
experienced the dilemma of "They were here first." To resolve
the issue ethically is to recognize diversity through equal rights.
Another example of a sympathetic motivation is, "Look at what we
did to their culture." Sorrow over cultural loss is not an ethical
motivation. (Cultural loss in relation to daily living has more to do
with technological advancement.) Our primary motivation should be to
recognize that equal rights guarantee cultural expression.
Pandering to tribal governments with gambling concessions is the worst
of discriminatory policy driven by sympathetic motivations. Casino concessions
give tribal governments the leverage to gain more land and buy litigation
and lobbyists to influence further injustice. Such policy only serves
to strengthen the power of tribal governments over the rights of tribal
people. Our policies are in opposition to our democratic ideals. All
citizens deserve equal protection and benefits of constitutional law.
We fight wars in the Middle East over reducing tribal power in order
to build democracies.
Government-to-government relationships with tribes denigrates both the
patriotic unity of our country and the equal rights values that define
us. America's longest civil-rights struggle is our national tragedy.
It's worth your concern. Doug
Wood, Sisters, OR