There are lots of things a candidate and a campaign can control to a degree in a given race. How the press chooses to cover a particular story is usually not one of those. Thus, while today's P-I story on the tribal cash pouring in to support Christine Gregoire is not necessarily a surprise given the details of the topic, the tone of the coverage means this story will leave a mark.
The lede starts out rough:
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Chris Gregoire is benefiting from more than $650,000 in campaign contributions from Indian tribes that hit the jackpot in 2005 when she killed a gambling compact potentially worth more than $140 million a year to the state.Unlike 22 other states that collect millions from revenue sharing agreements for tribal gambling, Washington gets no money from tribal casinos under the compact that Gregoire renegotiated with the Spokane Tribe.
There is little good that can come of that in our PC state that seems to have a hypersensitivity to even the appearance of conflict of interest. And its not just the appearance:
"It's a payoff," said University of Nevada-Las Vegas professor William Thompson, who has been studying tribal gambling since 1988. "She shouldn't take any campaign money, nor should her political party, and it smells too quid pro quo for my liking."
One wonders if those tribal casinos would be willing to take wagers on that passage appearing in a campaign ad this fall.
Eh, probably not.
Regardless of the betting opportunities of the general public before November, the P-I even catches a Democratic legislator bemoaning the deal in question:
"Why would you give someone a monopoly without taking a cut?" asked Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle.[snip]
But Jacobsen, the Seattle state senator, said there wasn't enough transparency.
"By the time anybody in the Legislature heard about it, it was a done deal. There are a lot of people, Democrats and Republicans, who were a little bit grumpy about that because, God, that's a lot of money we gave them without getting anything back."
Asked if there should there be a firewall between groups that negotiate with elected leaders, Jacobsen said: "When you start talking money, people are getting tempted," adding that even if there isn't outright corruption, it looks bad.
Yes, it does look bad. The local transparency-minded media loathes to see such appearances of back room dealing. And this is most definitely not the last the body politic has heard of this issue in the Evergreen State before November.
Cross-posted at The Next Right.
Posted by Eric Earling at June 13, 2008 07:22 AM | Email ThisThe tribes have also been active electing mayors they want in cities close to them. I heard a story from a well-placed source that they were wooing a candidate and offering election tokens in exchange for a lucrative water and sewer deal that would have been disastrous for the city in question. BTW, there wooing helped elect this candidate and the individual is still in office collecting election tokens from every company that does business with this city. My last assertion is provable by review of the PDCs.
Posted by: swatter on June 13, 2008 07:50 AMSo what's with all of this fear of the BIAW that the libs have? I don't get it.
I guess having the judiciary, the House, the Senate, the entire state executive branch, all of Seattle, all of King County, SEIU, AFL-CIO, the Teamsters, the WEA, and the huge percentage of government workers in this state is not enough for them to feel they have a secure lock as a blue state? They *still* have to have something that their State Democrat Party can wield over them that makes them feel afraid, insecure, and unsafe such that the State Democrats need more money extracted from their peeps? The union dues aren't enough??
Fill me in, Daniel K...explain to me one more time how you think the BIAW is evil?
Posted by: Flash of the Obvious on June 13, 2008 08:55 AMYou mean the BIAW has exclusive rights to build each and every building in Washington state? And they negotiated a backroom deal to get it done? Wow.
They are powerful.
I see your BIAW and raise you a WEA, an SEIU, an ASFCME, a Washington State Labor Council ...
Posted by: jimg on June 13, 2008 09:03 AMLet me help Mr Dan since I doubt he can be honest.
The BIAW represents private businesses that create jobs, employ people and pay taxes to the state. Something that actually boosts the economy. Since Danny K and the Democrats like nothing they can't buy or control they abhor private business. All business is good for is extracting taxes.
Posted by: swassociates on June 13, 2008 09:05 AMHow can you negotiate a deal that nets the tribes millions of dollars and then turn around and accept hundreds of thousands in contributions? Is this much different than the current collective bargaining arrangement the Governor’s office has with the state employees union?
As for the BIAW (who by the way first reported this story right after the deal with the tribes was cut), an organization that represents and industry continually hamstrung by the likes of Gregoire, supporting Rossi is a no-brainer. At least it is done above board with money their members give voluntarily (i.e. not union dues).
There is no question that Chrissy is a wholly-owned tribal subsidiary; if it had been a GOP governor who'd sold this state out of hundreds of millions with no justification whatsoever, his howls of outrage along with the other fringe leftists would drown out every other issue in this campaign.
That Queen Chrissy has bent the taxpayers of this state over repeatedly cannot be denied; the only real question is this: will Rossi have the guts to use it? Or will he be afraid of even more massive tribal efforts to own the government of this state?
Queen Chrissy's actions here are despicable in every sense of the word. She might has well be getting a personal check from the tribes in the mail every week... but then, she knew that going in.
Posted by: Hinton on June 13, 2008 09:30 AMI don't begrudge the Indians their prosperity from the gambling, but I do think their monopoly is a dangerous thing.
It's good to see the PI publishing this kind of information. People need to think about it.
Posted by: Micajah on June 13, 2008 09:33 AMDuring the boom we have experienced, it has been the only organization that has represented the home builder, the framers, the plumbers, the electricians, the sheetrockers, the painters, the concrete workers, the ironworkers, the landscapers, the engineers, the architects, the planners, the dirt movers, the pavers, etc. Get the drift. Its members employ tens of thousands of white and blue collar workers.
They alone have been at the forefront to confront the bad business environment we have in this state. They have asked Boeing to sit with them to come up with a working L&I and Unemployment Program only to have the Democrats cut sweetheart deals with Boeing. BTW, I think Boeing deserves some breaks due to sheer volume of extra money they give the state, but so do the BIAW. It should be a joint venture.
Enough for now. When Postman first came on board, I wrote a lengthier dissertation on this same issue which he chose to not post. I assume it was due to length but he never responded when asked.
Posted by: swatter on June 13, 2008 09:47 AMHow many hundreds of millions go into the Tribe's coffers without as much as a nickel of profits taxed to the state fund?
We are short on tax revenues, yet the state whores out to the Tribes and gambling interests.
Washington State Government! SOLD TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER! The Tribes.
Crook of the highest magnitude. Why isn't his bi$$h going to jail? Because her Democrats on the Supreme court would let her go!
Posted by: zdawg on June 13, 2008 10:21 AMAnswer: Rossi will be an ethical Governor.
Yes, it really is that simple.
Posted by: Larry on June 13, 2008 10:40 AMAll this story has done so far, is to lend some credibility to the PI's argument that they can do some real journalism. But another "real" part of journalism is what follows a breaking story like this, in the willingness of the rest of the media to further investigate and report it.
Will the Seattle Times report it? Will it show up in the local TV news for all the different networks? Will KIRO radio and NPR cover it? For each news outlet that does not cover a major story like this, we can come to a pretty clear conclusion regarding that outlet's bias and political preferences. And for every outlet that chooses not to report it, that is one more segment of our society that will be left uninformed.
Posted by: Reality on June 13, 2008 11:17 AMPosted by: Saltherring on June 13, 2008 12:38 PM
We knew she was in the tank with the tribes, but this is so blatant that she might want to consider changing her first name to an Indian name. Maybe Sacajawea Gregoire, or something like that.
Posted by: Jeff B. on June 13, 2008 02:45 PMCan't say I'm surprised.
Posted by: G Jiggy on June 13, 2008 04:22 PMEvery business in this state must send a cut of their revenues to the state coffers in the form of a B&O tax. Some of us pay much higher rates of B&O than everyone else, even. It isn't fair. But that the tribes can take in endless amounts and send nothing while the rest of us foot the bill for this ride, NO FREAKING WAY. BOOT HER CROOKED, ANTI-BUSINESS HIDE OUT NOW! In fact, why wait---someone ought to launch a recall effort right now.
Posted by: Michele on June 13, 2008 04:53 PM“I’m not so sure what the governor is delighted about. The proposed compact ups the ante for tribal gaming, giving the Spokanes 4,700 cash-fed slot machines and high-stakes betting. Under federal law the other tribes have the right to reopen their compacts to demand equal terms, and if history is any guide, they will.
The compact is great for the Spokanes but it’s a bad deal for Washington state, which is already in the midst of a gambling epidemic. And my sense is that this compact is bad politics for Gov. Gregoire and her fellow Democrats. Just two years ago voters overwhelmingly rejected Tim Eyman’s I-892, which would have legalized slot machines statewide. (Spokane County voters rejected the measure by an even larger margin.) And Republicans are poised to make hay with the issue.”
http://tinyurl.com/6efw4d
The only way she would return some or all of the money is if this would be perceived to be too much of a liability for the election, not because it would be the right thing to do.
Posted by: KS on June 13, 2008 11:15 PMThis is an absolute disaster, when she hands the tribes 140 million in savings and gets $600,000 back.
what the Hell is this woman doing in the highest office in this state?
Those rags are not fit to line bird cages, kitty litter boxes, or puppy bins.
Posted by: gs on June 15, 2008 01:08 PM