Bush continues grand American tradition of screwing Native Americans

[ShimokitaJer]

Sorry if this topic has been posted before -- I didn't see it anywhere, but I'm surprised this isn't getting more attention.

Apparently Bush attached a rider to the bill appropriating money for wildfires (a bill, mind you, that NOBODY was going to vote against) in order to avoid accounting for billions of dollars the governnment owes American Indians


http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3372229,00.html

...While there was widespread support for the firefighting money, lawmakers questioned a provision in the Interior bill that gives the department a one-year reprieve from a legal order to account for billions of dollars that American Indians say they are due for mismanaged oil, gas, timber and grazing royalties held in trust by the government. ..


Eric Alterman also has a piece on it:

http://www.msnbc.com/news/752664.asp?0dm=C215O&cp1=1

...But if you need a reason to hate Dubya, try this. Just when I thought the Indian Trust litigation could be put to bed for a while, last week the Administration does something so odious that many Republicans publicly expressed their dismay. To bring things up to date: the judge in the case ordered the Interior department to conduct an audit to determine just how much money it (admittedly) owes to individual Native Americans. The Administration slipped in a rider to a bill which prohibits Interior from doing this for up to a year. To imagine how heinous this is, imagine if Congress sent a bill to Ike saying “we want you to ban the Justice Department from enforcing the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education.” And it’s probably unconstitutional.

It gets worse. You see, the appropriations committee tried something like this before but once the committee on Native affairs caught wind it was dropped. So this time the appropriations committee sprung it during the house-senate reconciliation for....the bill to increase funds to fight the fires raging in California! Congress was forced to pick between delaying those funds or swallowing the rider (giving cover to many who voted for it, though it was a close vote in the House anyway). As John McCain and Tom Daschele said, if it was any minority but Native Americans this would never have happened...

[La_Serpiente]

1. Why the hell

is this being reported only in the foreign press? This really pisses me off.

[sybylla]

2. WTF?

Why isn't this bigger news? Christ this is sick. These people want THEIR money and I don't think it is too much to ask. If the shrubster's own bank had fucked up his accounts he wouldn't be willing to wait three years to find out how much money he had. Why should the Native Americans?

[ShimokitaJer]

4. I figured it should get more attention

But if nobody even cares about it here at DU, I guess we can't expect the general public to react.

Man, that thread dropped like a rock. I'll just give it this one kick and then let it die.

[beanball]

3. Screwing the Indians

it started in 1492 and its still going on.HAPPY THANKSGIVING

[preciousdove]

5. Kicking

:kick:

[Zorra]

6. What a surprise.

[xxqqqzme]

7. wasn't Reid talking about this

yesterday. Unbelieveable....!

[proud patriot]

8. Bush hates our courts the rule of law and justice

TRAITOR :grr:

[ShimokitaJer]

9. One final kick

Okay, so I lied about that last one being the final self-kick.

What can I say -- I think this is important

[Beaker]

10. If this thread were about any minority other than Native Americans-

There would probably be more outrage.

And that ain't right.

Anybody who hasn't read Howard Zinn's A Peoples History of the United States 1492-Present, ought to...It's disturbingly eye-opening.

[GinaMaria]

11. Time for letters to local editors

If they didn't cover this bit of news, it's time to compose a letter that will cover it. Anyone want to make a list of talking points that could be included in the letters?

[SpiralHawk]

12. Over 370 legally binding treaties

US Government has violated or broken every one of them. Sit was. So it is. But...

The wheel of karma always comes round.


Your little wind-blown clouds,
your thin wisps of clouds,
your great masses of clouds
replete with living waters,
you will send forth to stay with us.
Your fine rain caressing the earth...
Send forth your massed clouds to stay with us,
stretch out your water hands,
let us embrace!

-- Zuni prayer for rain