Amid all the discussion of which casino should go where, who has which tribe backing their proposal, which proposal is best wired in Sacramento or Washington, and attendant topics, the central issue in the situation has been largely overlooked. Is gambling the right way to finance government, or to compensate Native Americans for past injustices? Legislators have been tip-toeing around that question, proposing partial solutions which might just end up favoring one player over another. Diane Feinstein, for example, has proposed revoking the special legislation sponsored by the usually estimable Rep. George Miller on behalf of the crowd running Casino San Pablo, which positioned them to cut a recent exclusive deal with Governor Schwartzenegger. Feinstein’s solution seems at first glance like a good one, but it won’t be if it simply clears the way for the politically connected Upstream project at Point Molate, which has undesirable environmental consequences and poses a major liability risk for the adjacent Chevron plant.
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