American Indians and the Abramoff Scandal

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American Indians and the Abramoff Scandal
When transparency might have saved millions
Peter Scheer

Friday, January 27, 2006


Jack Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty to five counts of conspiracy and wire fraud, is not typical of big-time Washington lobbyists. I refer not to his slimy methods or capacity for deception -- which, regrettably, are in abundant supply among lobbyists, both Republican and Democrat -- but to the magnitude of the fees he charged his clients: casino-owning Indian tribes.

While most successful lobbyists in Washington charge by the hour and collect five- and occasionally six-figure retainers, Abramoff was in a class by himself. From 2001 through 2004, according to findings of a Senate investigation, Abramoff and his partner split more than $60 million in fees charged to American Indian tribes seeking to protect and expand their gambling monopolies.

For a corrupt lobbyist with grandiose ambitions, casino-rich tribes were the perfect clients. Indian "gaming" has grown from a handful of bingo parlors in the late 1980s into a $19 billion industry with more than 400 gambling establishments in 30 states. Awash in cash and exempt from federal and state disclosure laws, tribes are uniquely free to spend on a lavish scale for purely political purposes. More than other special interests that depend on government for their financial well-being, tribes are willing and able to influence public policy by writing big checks.

This was evident in California years before Abramoff became a household name. In 1998, California tribes with casino interests spent $70 million on a ballot measure to permit the building of large, Las Vegas-style casinos. In 2000, tribes in California spent another $30 million to secure passage of a ballot initiative to remove any remaining legal obstacles to casinos, while prohibiting competition from nontribal casinos.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/01/27/EDGNSGT5UD1.DTL

[RethugAssKicker]

1. Money corrupts EVERYONE...

I don't understand the Indian involvement in this Abramoff scandal completely... but it sounds like these Indian casino owners knew they were paying off the govt for special favors... They probably didn't realize just how much they were being scammed though.... So they are not completely innocent here, but IMO probably not guilty of anything illegal.