By Robert F. Sanchez, JMI Policy Director
Voters can be forgiven if they think they’re getting mixed signals about the importance of going to the polls. Examples:

 
Worse, a sneaky effort in Congress to insert a “rider” in an appropriations bill could pave the way for even more casinos. As a Sacramento Bee editorial reports, “At the behest of Indian tribes and their lobbyists, some members of Congress are seeking a ‘fix’ to a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision that cast doubt on the federal government’s authority to permit some bands of Indians to create new reservation land.

“In Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri v. Interior Secretary Kenneth Salazar, the court held that the Interior Department can take land into trust on behalf of tribes only if those tribes were under federal jurisdiction as of 1934, when Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act.”

The proposed rider could speed federal recognition of new tribes. Therefore, if this sneak attack succeeds, expect more Indian reservations with full-service casinos to pop up in the name of previously unrecognized “tribes” – even in areas where the voters overwhelming oppose casinos. You can bet on it.