How Hillary Clinton Betrayed My Upstate NY Community

[Dems Will Win]

In the Catskills, Clinton is supporting the right of out of state Indian Tribes to build casinos! We fought long and hard to stop the construction of casinos in the Catskills, to prevent the 50-mile zone of economic devastation that large casinos are known to bring to low- and middle-income in the local region. Whole communities like Saugerties, Kingston, Ellenville, and many others came out against casinos here.

Then Clinton stabbed us in the back and came out in favor of out-of-state Indian Tribes building casinos in the Catskills. I received this email:

Clinton is for Casinos in the Catskills and Obama is Against the Expansion of Gambling

Senator Clinton has long supported developer efforts to put Indian gaming casinos in the Catskills. Nevada-based Empire Resorts, which wants to operate a Sullivan County casino in partnership with the out-of-state St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, lists Hillary as a supporter of Catskill gambling on their Web site. The casino was rejected by Interior, but the St. Regis tribe has brought a lawsuit against the Secretary of the Interior for Abuse of Office to attempt to overturn the decision. Clinton's name is listed here on the Empire Resort Web site:

http://www.empireresorts.com/index.php?id=44#c145

Clinton has said that casinos are an "economic development tool" and said that "for many places in the country, it seems to be an important part of what they are trying to do to revive and maintain an economic base." In her first campaign for Senate, Hillary supported Indian gaming in the Catskills and Upstate.

When asked by the LA Times on January 18th about the social costs of gambling, Clinton replied, "Any human activity has social costs, really," she said, adding later: "Life is filled with trade-offs, and you have to do the best you can to balance the pluses and the minuses."
Mrs. Clinton’s big gaming industry fundraisers include the senior executives of Harrahs, Jan Jones and Philip Satre.

In contrast, Senator Obama has never been in favor of the expansion of gambling, saying that the "moral and social cost of gambling, particularly in low-income communities, could be devastating." And, with casinos, "you'll have a whole bunch of people who can't afford it gambling their money away, yet they're going to do it." As a State Senator, Obama has opposed expanding all gambling projects in Illinois, although he does not oppose all gambling, such as in Nevada.


"There's a fundamental question here," said the Rev. Tom Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling. "Until this point, Obama's statements seemed to suggest that he did not buy into the industry arguments that this is a product like golf or Starbucks that should just go on Main Street. And Hillary, by attacking him, seems to have come down clearly on the side of the industry that this is economic development." (LA TIMES - "Clinton Plays Gaming Card against Obama" Jan 18 2008)

ALSO FROM THE LA TIMES:

"Satre, former chairman and chief executive of Harrah's Entertainment, said he too would help raise money for Clinton. Obama, he said in an interview, "doesn't think gambling should expand. He thinks gambling has a moral and social corruption attached to it."

If you think the Clintons are good on economics -- think again. Billary has completely sold out to Big Business, even the gambling industry. They are disgusting. McCain by the way is foursquare against out-of-state tribes building casinos in other places.

PLEASE RECOMMEND IF YOU THINK THE CLINTONS CAN'T BE TRUSTED TO FIGHT FOR YOU INSTEAD OF CORPORATIONS

[dsc]

1. Unless NY is going to give up their lottery

then why shouldn't the Indians have their casino? I don't favor gambling and think the government should not be running lotteries, but once they do, they have no business at all telling other sovereign nations they can't.

[Dems Will Win]

3. This is an out-of-state tribe from OHIO coming to NY

If Hillary is elected, she will let an out-of-state Indian Tribe build a casino in your backyard too.

[DainBramaged]

5. Really, did she tell you that? Did you call her?

Got her number? can I get a piece of that casino too??

:woohoo: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[dsc]

14. We just started a lottery here

and have had casinos in Cherokee for a time. But if there is a tribe here who sets up a casino we deserve to have that happen.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

4. Bingo! So to speak...:-)

Agree.

[Captain Hilts]

2. She's been good to Utica. nt

[styersc]

6. Tell us about how she stole and killed your cat.

Sean Hannity says that's the way these evil people operate.

I think that it is horrible that Hillary's actions might expose you to poor and lower middle class people.

[Dems Will Win]

8. Hey, read this:

If the financial "benefits" are illusory, some other consequences of casino gambling are totally predictable. If a casino comes to Rhode Island more businesses will suffer and some will close as potential customers lose their spending money at the casino. And more families will be destroyed by compulsive gambling.

Compulsive gamblers are usually good people who have become trapped in an addiction every bit as destructive as alcoholism. A young man from Pawtucket told police that he had been robbed at gunpoint to avoid admitting to his family that he had been to Foxwoods and lost $4,000 he had borrowed from friends for his daughter's medical expenses.

To support his gambling at Foxwoods, a janitor at an elementary school in East Providence stole money from funds collected for the student yearbook. The treasurer of the North Providence police union embezzled $43,000 for his gambling habit. A city employee in Warwick embezzled money from the city to cover her husband's gambling debts.

A Providence lawyer embezzled $530,000 from an elderly aunt. He frequented Foxwoods, but he was arrested at a casino in the Bahamas, leaving his ex-wife and his children without support. A judge on Rhode Island's traffic court spent more time at Foxwoods than on the bench. Despite his salary of almost $94,000 per year, he declared bankruptcy.

An assistant vice president at a Providence insurance company embezzled $1.1 million from his employer. A former Rhode Island governor was convicted of taking kickbacks from contractors. He was a frequent visitor to Foxwoods and we don't know how much of the money he lost there. An employee at an automobile dealership in Norwich embezzled $100,000 from her employer, and lost most of it at Foxwoods and the Mohegan Sun.

A former utility lineman in Connecticut was sentenced to five years in prison for climbing utility poles and stealing copper wire which he sold to raise money for his gambling addiction. Two men in Massachusetts "created" a phony chemical company and collected more than $1.9 million from a manufacturer in Rockland on the basis of phony invoices. A man in Peabody stole $4 million from his family's paving business.

A middle-aged Connecticut woman got just a little more than $700 when she robbed the New Haven Savings Bank to finance her gambling addiction. After serving six months in prison and nine weeks in gamblers' rehab she got on a bus and went back to Foxwoods. The chief fund raiser for the late Sen. Paul Tsongas' presidential campaign took $1 million in campaign contributions and loans to pay gambling debts. Tsongas withdrew from the race and the fund raiser went to prison.

A young woman drowned herself in Connecticut's Thames River after maxing out her credit cards at Foxwoods. She left a husband and two small children. A highly-regarded police chief in Central Falls took his own life when he couldn't cope with his gambling debts.

A nurse in Reading, Mass., worked double shifts to pay her husband's gambling debts. When she restricted her husband's access to money, he killed her. On his way home, after disposing of his wife's car, he stopped to buy more scratch tickets.

A few years ago several compulsive gamblers spoke to a committee of the Rhode Island legislature. One gentleman told of his wife being seriously injured in an auto accident. He said "I love my wife very much, but I couldn't help thinking of the insurance money if she died." Another told of sitting at the kitchen table with his 3-year-old daughter one winter. "Daddy, please fix the heat," she said. But the heat wasn't broken. The money to pay the fuel bill had gone to cover a bet.

Wherever gambling opportunities have expanded, the number of compulsive gamblers has grown. Gamblers Anonymous had just two meetings per week in Rhode Island before Foxwoods opened. Now the number is eight and the attendance at each has doubled. If a gambling casino comes to West Warwick, there will be more tragic stories, and many of them will be about families in West Warwick.

[Fredda Weinberg]

7. I'm sorry, but I've followed this issue for years. I think HRC is on the right side

And yes, it's one of those damnable upstate/downstate issues.

[Dems Will Win]

9. This is what casinos do to people -- but you obviously don't care:

If the financial "benefits" are illusory, some other consequences of casino gambling are totally predictable. If a casino comes to Rhode Island more businesses will suffer and some will close as potential customers lose their spending money at the casino. And more families will be destroyed by compulsive gambling.

Compulsive gamblers are usually good people who have become trapped in an addiction every bit as destructive as alcoholism. A young man from Pawtucket told police that he had been robbed at gunpoint to avoid admitting to his family that he had been to Foxwoods and lost $4,000 he had borrowed from friends for his daughter's medical expenses.

To support his gambling at Foxwoods, a janitor at an elementary school in East Providence stole money from funds collected for the student yearbook. The treasurer of the North Providence police union embezzled $43,000 for his gambling habit. A city employee in Warwick embezzled money from the city to cover her husband's gambling debts.

A Providence lawyer embezzled $530,000 from an elderly aunt. He frequented Foxwoods, but he was arrested at a casino in the Bahamas, leaving his ex-wife and his children without support. A judge on Rhode Island's traffic court spent more time at Foxwoods than on the bench. Despite his salary of almost $94,000 per year, he declared bankruptcy.

An assistant vice president at a Providence insurance company embezzled $1.1 million from his employer. A former Rhode Island governor was convicted of taking kickbacks from contractors. He was a frequent visitor to Foxwoods and we don't know how much of the money he lost there. An employee at an automobile dealership in Norwich embezzled $100,000 from her employer, and lost most of it at Foxwoods and the Mohegan Sun.

A former utility lineman in Connecticut was sentenced to five years in prison for climbing utility poles and stealing copper wire which he sold to raise money for his gambling addiction. Two men in Massachusetts "created" a phony chemical company and collected more than $1.9 million from a manufacturer in Rockland on the basis of phony invoices. A man in Peabody stole $4 million from his family's paving business.

A middle-aged Connecticut woman got just a little more than $700 when she robbed the New Haven Savings Bank to finance her gambling addiction. After serving six months in prison and nine weeks in gamblers' rehab she got on a bus and went back to Foxwoods. The chief fund raiser for the late Sen. Paul Tsongas' presidential campaign took $1 million in campaign contributions and loans to pay gambling debts. Tsongas withdrew from the race and the fund raiser went to prison.

A young woman drowned herself in Connecticut's Thames River after maxing out her credit cards at Foxwoods. She left a husband and two small children. A highly-regarded police chief in Central Falls took his own life when he couldn't cope with his gambling debts.

A nurse in Reading, Mass., worked double shifts to pay her husband's gambling debts. When she restricted her husband's access to money, he killed her. On his way home, after disposing of his wife's car, he stopped to buy more scratch tickets.

A few years ago several compulsive gamblers spoke to a committee of the Rhode Island legislature. One gentleman told of his wife being seriously injured in an auto accident. He said "I love my wife very much, but I couldn't help thinking of the insurance money if she died." Another told of sitting at the kitchen table with his 3-year-old daughter one winter. "Daddy, please fix the heat," she said. But the heat wasn't broken. The money to pay the fuel bill had gone to cover a bet.

Wherever gambling opportunities have expanded, the number of compulsive gamblers has grown. Gamblers Anonymous had just two meetings per week in Rhode Island before Foxwoods opened. Now the number is eight and the attendance at each has doubled. If a gambling casino comes to West Warwick, there will be more tragic stories, and many of them will be about families in West Warwick.

[Fredda Weinberg]

15. I live across the river from Atlantic City. Instead of insulting me personally

please accept that NYS owes our native American population. I know it's an upstate/downstate issue - but it's not fair to drag HRC into this.

[karynnj]

22. What river is Atlantic City on?

I thought it was on the Atlantic Ocean more than an hour from the Hudson river crossing in NJ traffic.

As to upstate/downstate, the op seems to suggest that upstate, where it will be sited, the towns are against it. If you could counter that, this would be less an issue. If the area is really against it, it seems wrong that out of state people could set this up.

[ugdude]

10. Let's not forget how she screwed over the people of Hudson valley

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/1/234527/0014/392/448115

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

11. So sorry to hear this

my ancestors lived in the Catskills around the time of the American Revolution (founded Poughkeepsie, in fact), and I have fond memories of the two times I have visited the area. The peacefulness, the greenness of the Hudson Valley there--I can understand why you feel the way you do. My best to you and all who live in the area.

[bvar22]

12. Anyone who calls casinos "Economic Development Tools"

is my social, economic, and moral ENEMY.

Another "Dead End" Industry, like the Armaments Industry.
After ther money is spent......there is NOTHING.
Nothing lasting is produced, no useful product, NO addition to the Common Good, the World is NOT a better place.


We CAN do better than this!!!!

The WPA was an economic development tool.

[The Backlash Cometh]

13. That's got to be weird.

Back in Clinton's time, the Indian trust fund was raided to pay for New York City's solvency problem. And now the Clinton's pay the Indians back by allowing a casino in the state.

Is this a urban New York City vs rural New York City issue?

[ElsewheresDaughter]

16. the Native Americans should be allowed to gain from the gaming industry rather then Trump..I live in

The Catskills too and it would be a blessing to this blighted and impoverished area.....employment for the rural poor.

[Cha]

17. Is this why the Native American Times

endorsed Obama among other important reasons?

[intheflow]

18. The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe is a NY tribe.

I hate to think of casinos in that region, I spent most of my childhood summers in West Saugerties picking blueberries and swimming in the creek. Casinos do affect the quality of life of local residents, not only for those with gambling addictions but also by increasing alcohol sales, domestic abuse, and crime. I don't want to see casinos anywhere, much less in the Catskills.

However, the source you cited is wrong in saying that the St. Regis Mohawks are from out of state. The St. Regis Mohawk Reservation is located partially in Franklin County, NY, and partially in Canada. Tribal headquarters are in Akwesasne, NY.

Moreover, this reservation is located right next to a superfund site. Seeing that the U.S. Government stole their land and then permitted GM to contaminate the small area they were forced to retreat to, I don't have a problem with this tribe getting some more land downstate. Then it's up to them how they want to use it. One thing in favor of this tribe is that they are deeply committed to the environment so at least the buildings will be green and wetlands will be protected. You'd never see that kind of conscience from Harrah's or MGM Mirage. They've also agreed to abide by New York state tax laws, so they'll be contributing to the state tax revenue, unlike most Native American casinos located on reservations. That will bring in money in an economically depressed area.

*Edited for grammar.

[H2O Man]

19. Right.

The Mohawks have always been primarily in NYS, with some in Canada. The area where the casino is proposed is not really part of their ancestoral homeland.

[intheflow]

23. Actually, the Catskills probably were part of Mohawk ancestral homeland.

Here's a map of guesstimated NY tribal territories which shows the southern part of Mohawk land was in the Catskills area.

By the site's own admission, this is only an approximation of where each tribe lived before the Europeans came since tribal borders were fairly fluid, they didn't keep maps themselves, and the maps we have were created after diaspora and genocide had been applied to the tribes by white settlers. The St. Regis Mohawk Reservation today is primarily where the Laurentian peoples lived before whites came. (The Lauretians themselves are naught but a memory now. :() The tribe that was also in the Catskills, the Delaware Indians, no longer lives in New York. So while the casino is not being built on reservation land, it probably is, or is very close to, ancestral Mohawk land.

[paulk]

24. I would be interested to know how you, as an upstate NYer,

feel about this issue.

[Enrique]

20. so vote for McCain

the way you have been systematically smearing Clinton, you might as well.

[Perry Logan]

21. Whattaya know? Another shrill anti-Hillary thread that gets instantly and repeatedly debunked.

Ah, but the anti-Hillary folks have got all the debunkers on IGNORE, so they don't see the debunkings. You see how it works?

It would be funnier if it weren't lowering morale, spreading disinformation, and screwing up the party.