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@casinofacts-blog
Investors call in bad Wampanoag tribe debt
The Cape Cod Times is reporting the Mashpee band of the Wampanaog tribe, led by Cedric Cromwell, is in default on their mortgage and has failed to pay back some $25 million owed to early investors in their ongoing scheme to create a resort style casino complex in Massachusetts.
Read the full story here:
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110929/NEWS/109290314
New England area tribes protest Mashpee Wampanoag plans
While Mass legislators led by Therese Murray and Deval Patrick continue to push lobbyist written legislation giving special preference to Indian gaming with a unique carve out design to benefit only the Mashpee band of the Wampanoag tribe, other tribes apparently aren't happy. Murray went so far as to block an amendment which simply said the state would be authorized to negotiate with ANY federally recognized tribe in order to protect the Mashpee from potential legitimate competition.
The Cape Cod times reports that other Native American tribes, including Pocasset Pokanoket tribe, issued a press release Monday afternoon saying it had sent a 500-page document to the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs objecting to the Mashpee tribe's application to put land into federal trust and saying the tribe has "absolutely no social or political ties to any part of Massachusetts except on Cape Cod."
George Spring Buffalo, the Pocasset leader, called it "an absolute injustice" for the Legislature to exclude state-recognized tribes from the process.
"There should be no advantage for any tribe," Lesley Rich, an attorney for the Pocasset tribe, said in a phone interview. "The Pocassets are trying to protect their rights."
Read the full story here:
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110927/NEWS/109270327
Ten reasons to oppose Massachusetts casino give away
State Representative Denise Provost tells Boston Magazine why the casino deal is bad for Massachusetts, including:
This bill offers special deals, not a level playing field. This bill is loaded with preferences for particular industry players, and other sweet deals — there’s an expedited process for race tracks seeking the slots parlor license; an expedited process for applicants licensed in other states. There’s priority, in the southeast region, for a federally-recognized Indian tribe to negotiate a casino license directly with the governor.
Whichever new gaming facility can open its doors first — and probably second — will have a competitive advantage. So what are we prioritizing? A slots parlor that represents low capital investment, fewer jobs, less revenue, and a tribal casino that won’t be subject to state law — even the new casino bill, except to the extent it agrees to be.
Besides the four commercial licenses it creates, this bill will give federally recognized Indian tribes the right to conduct expanded gaming on tribal lands. Massachusetts already has two federally recognized tribes, plus other potential claimants. They are subject to federal jurisdiction and enjoy the benefit of the federal Indian Regulatory Gaming Act (IGRA). IGRA allows tribes to operate “Class III Gaming” (table games and slots) in states that permit anyone else to do so.
Indian tribes are legally “sovereign” — separate nations, able to make and enforce their own laws. IGRA directs that Indian gaming be conducted under a negotiated “compact,” so states go after the best deal they can get, in a climate of legal entitlement. And, as Time Magazine showed in its 2002 investigative report, profits from this entitlement flow largely to the tribes’ financial backers, not to Indians themselves.
Read the full story here:
http://blogs.bostonmagazine.com/boston_daily/2011/09/27/denise-provost-ten-reasons-voted-massachusetts-casino-bill/
Cape & Island lawmakers oppose casino plans for Mashpee tribe
The island’s state lawmakers are fighting a losing battle against the introduction of casino gambling in Massachusetts.
Nantucket state representative Tim Madden was one of only 32 legislators in the House who voted against the casino gaming bill that was approved by a wide margin last week.
The legislation would allow three resort-style casinos spread out across three different regions of the state, including the potential for a tribal casino in Southeastern Massachusetts spearheaded by the Mashpee Wampanoag, as well as a single slot parlor.
Madden’s no vote didn’t hinge on the perceived social ills that critics believe will be ushered in by the casinos, he said Monday during a breakfast meeting with the local Chamber of Commerce at the Nantucket Inn. Rather, Madden does not believe the legislation will bring tangible benefits to his district - which includes Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard and portions of Falmouth - and could divert state dollars for tourism and other projects away from the region.
“I don’t see jobs being created in the district,” Madden said. “And we may lose people here on the island that may follow those jobs. All I hope is that it provides the jobs and the income that it is purported to do. It’s not the path I wanted to go down, but I don’t begrudge it.
“My concerns is the infrastructure dollars - what you spend on roads and maintenance gets diverted to make these resorts,” he added. “And tourism dollars getting devoted to promote casinos.”
Read the full story here:http://www.ack.net/lawmakersopposecasinos092211.html
Massachusetts Catholic bishops call on lawmakers to stop casino bill
The Republican's Connor Berry reports:
"The state's Roman Catholic leaders acknowledge that Massachusetts is in tough financial shape. But the expanded gambling legislation now wending its way through the Beacon Hill law-making process isn't a catholicon, according to the commonwealth's four Catholic bishops.
"The Massachusetts Catholic Conference (MCC), on behalf of the bishops, will continue to speak out against expanded gambling because the downside certainly outweighs any short-term economic benefits," James F. Driscoll, MCC's executive director, said Friday in a phone interview from the organization's Boston headquarters.
"Since 1969, MCC has served as the official representative of the state's four Catholic dioceses on public policy issues. And all four bishops, including the Rev. Timothy A. McDonnell, bishop of the Diocese of Springfield, strongly oppose casino gambling in Massachusetts, which could get three new casinos under legislation currently being considered by state lawmakers...."
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/09/massachusetts_four_catholic_bi.html
Read the full story here on MassLive:
Wampanoag: Pimp my tribe
Real Wamps has Cedric Comwell's number! Mashpee Wampanoag evolving scandal exposed. This tribal elder writes:
"Traditionalists are extremely angry with the Cromwell administration. ( The Wanabee Wamps, recently enrolled, without paperwork, added by Jessie Tobey Baird, have long since left the building). Not only have tribal hopes for the future been dashed by his self serving bungling and ineptness, now he’s trying to set up a separate tribe through the Federal Charter of Incorporation. The Charter, goes to the DOI for approval don’t you know. It allows an evenly numbered panel of tribal members (Ahh….Cedric, Aaron Markie etal) and “non tribal members” to run the new tribe. The Charter Tribe can buy and dispose of “tribal land,” establish businesses, acquire debt all in the name of the Mashpee and on and on..."
Read the full story here:
http://reelwamps.com/archives/pimp-my-tribe-3
Critical Mass hits the jackpot on realities of Bay State casino gamble
Critical Mass hits the jackpot on realities of Bay State casino gamble - and it's not pretty.
"In exchange for an increase in jobs of less than one half of one percent and a "windfall" of revenue that might fund at best one percent of the Commonwealth's budget, the Speaker and his allies want to introduce an infamously corrupt (and corrupting) industry into an already politically corrupt state. They want to fundamentally and irrevocably change the character of dozens of communities that will host and/or abut these gaming megaplexes. They want to create a market sector that they know - they know - will foster addiction, alcoholism, personal and family financial ruin."
Read the full story here:
http://criticalmassachusetts.blogspot.com/2011/09/ma-casino-push-perception-vs-reality.html
Sommerville Reps "belch" at Mass Indian casino scheme
According to the Sommerville Patch, local state reps oppose Governor Patrick's special interest laden casino plans. Specifically, regarding plans to set-aside 1/3 of the state for Indian-only gaming with a special preference for the Mashpee Wampanoag the said:
"The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, which won federal recognition in 2007, is a likely group to build a casino in the southeastern part of the state, and Provost expressed concern that tribal casinos bring a host of difficulties to local communities and complictions with oversight and federal law.
"If you look at some of the issues in other states surrounding tribal casinos, you sort of go, belch," she said.
"American Indian tribes with casinos soon "acquire all sorts of friends … who will help them," she said, referring to business groups, lobbyists, lawyers and investors who may not have the tribe's best interests at heart. Tribal casinos in Connecticut, which thrived at first, are now struggling, she said.
"Also, tribal casinos are regulated by the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), which is highly complicated and complex, she said. "Nobody should be messing with IGRA in the absence of a lawyer who knows it really well," Provost said. She's not convinced the state legislature, or even the governor's administration, fully understands complex federal tribal gaming law."
Read the full story here:
http://somerville.patch.com/articles/casinos-majority-of-somerville-reps-against-them
Cape Cod businesses have low trust for Wampanoag casino plans, seek assurances
The Cape Cod Times reports the local Chamber of Commerce is concerned, rightly so, that a proposed Indian gaming casino complex with local fee and tax-exempt shops, restaurants, bars, hotels and a slot barn will harm local business. Based on past bad deals gone sour by the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe with other Massachusetts cities and towns the Chamber is seeking assurances that existing businesses and communities will be protected from a scheme which locks-in the Cape and Southeastern Massachusetts for Indian gaming only with a specific preference for the Mashpee Wampanoag. One of the towns seeking damages from the Mashpee tribe is Middleboro, which the Times reports is preparing a lawsuit to block the tribe's casino plans after reneging on a casino deal with the town.
To read the full story click here:
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110910/NEWS/109100335/-1/NEWSMAP
Are Wampanoag casino financial backers funding terrorism?
The progressive Florida Clarion is reporting that the financial backers behind the Mashpee Wampanoag casino development and lobbying interests in Massachusetts are funding and associating with Islamic extremists on U.S. terrorist lists.
It best the question - Will Governor Deval Patrick's and Senator Therese Murray's sweetheart deal creating a Mashpee Wampanoag-only casino zone in Southeastern Massachusetts be used to fund overseas terrorists with tax-free and unregulated gaming profits?
Read the full story here:
http://floridaclarion.com/2011/09/genting-connected-to-islamic-extremists/
Boston Globe calls Governor Patrick's casino bill deeply flawed
Boston Globe: Casino bill deeply flawed; rank & file should kill it
“Any casino legislation should also provide a level playing field for would-be operators. Instead, under the current proposal, Native American tribes would have a one-year head start for the license designated for Southeastern Massachusetts. It effectively amounts to a no-bid contract for the Mashpee Wampanoag… carving out a special process for a group with strong lobbying muscle remains problematic. Patrick opposed no-bid contracts in negotiations last year - and shouldn’t have shifted now.”
Read the full story here:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2011/09/08/casino_bill_is_deeply_flawed_rank_and_file_should_kill_it/
South Coast Today - Remove of preferential Indian gaming language!
South Coast Today editorial claims "Cards are stacked against Southeastern Massachusetts" with the Governor's special interest gaming bill.
"While western and northern Massachusetts get to start clean in seeking the best option for casinos there, Southeastern Massachusetts will operate with a big handicap: a pledge to allow Indian tribes a year to work out their own deals with partners of their own choosing. And that means the interests of the region as a whole and of everyone who lives here come after the financial interests of the tribes.
"That's not comforting, especially considering how badly Mashpee Wampanoag tribal leaders treated the town of Middleboro, which they wooed as a mate previously in a plan to land a resort casino, then spurned for another pretty face when Fall River came knocking with a dowry of ready-to-develop acreage that UMass Dartmouth had been promised for the new biotech park the region had been pushing for years..,."
Read the full story here:
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110828/OPINION/108280358/-1/NEWS
Patriot Ledger calls for removal of Indian casino preference
A Patriot Ledger newspaper editorial calls for the removal of special interest language which freezes out the Southeastern portion of Massachusetts for Indian-only gaming. The Governor's top casino aid has further clarified this to mean Mashpee Wampanoag tribe only gaming. The Ledger calls for this carve out to be carved out of any bill which passes:
"The bill creates a preference for giving an Indian tribe in Southeastern Massachusetts the casino license for the region, provided the deal can be done in one year. After that, it’s open bidding. The Mashpee Wampanoags have been trying for years to open a casino in Middleboro or elsewhere in Southeastern Massachusetts. Requiring them to acquire land, get clearance from federal authorities and work out a compact with the state by July 31 of next year borders on the impossible. The time limit will almost certainly be challenged in the courts and could delay for years the opening of any casino in Southeastern Massachusetts and perhaps elsewhere in the state. This needs to be changed." Read the full editorial here:
http://www.patriotledger.com/opinions/editorials/x865771069/OUR-OPINION-Yes-to-the-casino-bill-with-some-changes
Where MA Pols stand on special interest gambling
We now know what Deval Patrick, Therese Murray and the gaming lobbyists want – special interests’ carve outs for slot machine companies and foreign backed Indian casino campaign contributors. No matter what line of B.S. Greg Bialecki or Stan McGee claim about the inevitability of Indian casinos in the Commonwealth, their arguments for dedicating Southeastern Massachusetts to the Mashpee Wampanoag and ONLY the Mashpee’s simply don’t hold water. Their addendum to the gaming legislation for this single, small and questionable special interest group at the expense of state revenue, jobs and community control reeks of political corruption, plain and simple. But what will matter now is where our legislators stand on this issue. It’s pretty simple. 1. You are either for preferential treatment of tax-exempt, foreign-financed Indian casinos which give huge returns to slot machine companies but lower returns to the state coupled with loss of state and local community jurisdiction, or 2. You are for competitively bid casinos which will create jobs quickly, maximize revenues to the state without loss of state or local community controls So, where do they stand?
Read where they stand here:
http://wampaleaks.blogspot.com/2011/09/where-they-stand-on-special-interest.html
ReelWamps: How Cedric Cromwell became an Indian
The Boston Globe did a story on how Cedric Cromwell was the ”soft spoken“ Mashpee Wampanoag Chairman who was leading his suffering tribal members out of the wilderness to a well deserved “jackpot.”
Cedric must have disguised himself in one of his awful crazy Indian costumes as he whispered his famous clap trap to the unknowing reporter. We know it’s all about Cedric’s Jackpot, by way of the paycheck.
Read the full story here at ReelWamps! http://reelwamps.com/archives/how-cedric-disguised-himself-as-an-indian
Cedric Cromwell, the Wampanoag Manchurian Candidate
How did Cedric Cromwell a lifelong resident of Dorchester and Attleboro become Mashpee Wampanoag Chairman from otherwise obscurity to the tribe and Wampanoag people’s community in Mashpee? Just last Saturday he was reported raising a celebratory toast at the Willowbend Country Club along side of Senate President Therese Murray and former Congressman turned lobbyists Bill Delahunt on their victorious legislative scheme to create a tax-free, non-competitive haven for Indian-only gaming in Southeastern Massachusetts. It begs the question, was Cedrick planted there on behalf of deep pocketed, behind the scenes foreign gambling syndicates to do their bidding funneling billions of dollars in tax-free slot machine income out of Massachusetts into overseas bank accounts?
To learn how, read the full story here: http://wampaleaks.blogspot.com/2011/08/is-cedric-cromwell-mashpees-manchurian.html
What will cause more damage to Cape Cod and Southeastern Massachusetts than Hurricane Irene?
No more controversial issue has been rammed through the Massachusetts Legislature faster and with more frenzy in recent history than Governor Patrick’s lobbyist-written casino gaming bill. NENC reports how the behind close-door dealings caught everyone by surprise this week putting out the proposed bill and announcing a quick after labor day “debate” and vote.
The speed with which the lobbyists are seeking push this past will leave no room for any real debate or analysis of the downsides to state revenues, delayed jobs and loss of local control by localities this special-interest laden bill presents. Faster and with more irreversible damages to the state than Hurricane Irene, watch this lobbyist fueled vortex strip away any potential Massachusetts has for transparent, non-corrupt and highest potential return to the taxpayer gaming. What we’ll get is billions in taxpayer losses at the gaming tables largely shipped tax-free to overseas investors backing groups like the Mashpee Wampanoags with little to no return to the state. And, local communities will lose all control over zoning, local business protections and law enforcement.
Check out Kathleen Norbut’s interview on NECN detailing these types of concerns.
View the video and read the full story here: http://wampaleaks.blogspot.com/2011/08/only-one-thing-is-faster-and-more.html