Arizona‘s congressional delegation is willing to gamble $1 billion of your and my dollars to keep the Tohono O’odham Nation from having a casino. At the moment, Sen. John
McCain (R) and his junior henchmen are plotting to stick their hypocritically titled Keep the Promise Act onto some piece of must-pass legislation and thwart the tribe in that manner. (When it comes to keeping promises involving Native Americans, Congress’ moral authority is dubious at best.) However, the Congressional Budget Office warns that if the Tohono O’odham sue — as appears certain they will — for not being allowed to make the highest and best use of their land, taxpayers could be on the hook for as much as $1 billion in legal fees, since the law will increase federal spending.
The lone voice of sense in the Arizona delegation belongs to Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D), who warns, “Our senators and others in the delegation want to roll the dice and take that risk. I’m not willing to take that risk.” He’s joined by Tohono O’odham Chairman Ned Norris Jr., who — 
in addition to criticizing the delegation for trying to put 1,200-plus construction laborers out of work, says “Now we also are trying to understand why they would be willing to make American taxpayers foot the bill for creating this job-killing legislation, all to protect the market share of a few wealthy special interests.”
One of those “wealthy special interests,” Gila River Indian Community Gov. Stephen Roe Lewis shrugged off the threat of litigation. “Any one can bring a suit, and a plaintiff can allege any damages they might want, but they have to prevail,” he said. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey‘s intransigence toward the Tohono O’odham, meanwhile, is drawing ridicule (literally).
* With Sheldon Adelson promising to ‘make it rain’ in the tens of millions of dollars, he had no trouble finding presidential candidates willing to dance attendance upon him at last weekend’s meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition, which is practically Adelson’s private club. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R), who’s doing Adelson’s bidding on Internet gambling, was expected to speak but seems to have been a no-show.
* Not resting on its laurels, Mohegan Sun is sussing out a second casino site in South Korea in addition to its $1.6 billion Incheon International Airport site. It’s not clear whether this is intended as a fallback position or the Mohegans intend to corner the market on new megaresorts in South Korea. Meanwhile, the government is mulling a profit-friendly proposal to open the country’s 17 foreigners-only casinos to its citizens on the basis of a Singapore-like daily or annual entrance fee.
* Glenn Straub and ACR Energy Partners climbed off their respective high horses and restored power to the mummified Revel resort. A Wells Fargo offer of $300,000 in subsidies made the deal happen. For Straub, it’s probably a temporary fix until he gets state permission to hook Revel up to Showboat‘s power grid. Given the long history of hostility between Straub and ACR, one must be grateful for the newfound peace, however fragile.
