Comments on: Alabama AG Seeks Ban On Indian Bingo Machines

By: SaddleUpNRide

SaddleUpNRide — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:01:01 +0000

Atmore is almost a ghost town as it is. If the Casino goes then the government will have an awful lot of people to support… Welfare, medicade, foodstamps, etc. but eventually they will probably find a way to end all those programs as well. Our country is no longer “for the people or by the people”. Very, very sad

By: concerned

concerned — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:14:06 +0000

do you people realize what will happen to the value of our homes and land in atmore if they shut down wind creek. No one will ever be able to sell a home, the schools will fail or go to the state for funds and that will mean no football, basketball, field trips etc. No one will want to live here (they already don’t). All of you that voted for this crazy governor, WELL, you got him! There are so many people here in town that grace their church doors everytime they open, but go gamble either at wind creek or in mississippi, and you go across the line and buy lottery tickets, so get off your high horses and support the one industry that keeps your little hometown afloat….look at the money they just donated to ALL area schools (they didn’t just give to one) and the money they just donated to the YMCA. Without this money, that program would be in trouble. Some working parents need the Y to keep their kids after school so that they can work and not have to have latch key kids….YOU BETTER WAKE UP BEFORE ATMORE IS WIPED OFF THE MAP!

By: vicky

vicky — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 12:31:40 +0000

i work at the casino and i thank god everyday for my job. it allows me to raise my two boys comfortably. the gambling is not the only part of it. there are actually alot of people who only patronize the resturants and other places we have that dont include the gambling. alot of lives would be affected by closing the casino. i dont mind workin for a living but in this economy its hard to do so i am grateful for my job! i hope they dont take it away from me!!!!!!

By: seriously

seriously — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 09:37:40 +0000

The Indians need to be left alone.

By: Bill Sherman

Bill Sherman — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 07:07:03 +0000

In 1988 United States federal law that establishes the jurisdictional framework that governs Indian gaming. There was no federal gaming structure before this act. The stated purposes of the act include providing a legislative basis for the operation/regulation of Indian gaming, protecting gaming as a means of generating revenue for the tribes, encouraging economic development of these tribes, and protecting the enterprises from negative influences (such as organized crime). The law established the National Indian Gaming Commission and gave it a regulatory mandate. The law also delegated new authority to the U.S. Department of the Interior and created new federal offenses, giving the U.S. Department of Justice authority to prosecute them.

In 1976, in a case called Bryan v. Itasca County, the Supreme Court made a ruling that sowed the legal seeds that would eventually give rise to the Indian gaming industry. In an opinion written by Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., the Supreme Court highlighted tribal independence from state regulatory authority. Since regulatory authority is the primary legal mechanism for regulating some forms of gambling, this case would prove relevant to the impending controversy of Indian gaming.

Gambling is a part of many traditional Indian cultures (as well as the larger US society.) Tribal games include dice and shell activities, archery competitions, races, and so on. The use of gaming to generate profit did not begin until the late 1970s and early 1980s within Indian communities. Several tribes, especially in California and Florida, opened bingo parlors as a way to earn revenue. Their actions were related to the search for new sources of revenue, given the emphasis the Ronald Reagan administration placed on economic self-sufficiency for the tribes.

Looks to me like it was a Republican President Ronald Reagan that was pushing for the tribes economic freedom. Now its a Republican Governor Robert Bentley that wants to take it away. Damned Republicans can’t make up their minds.

By: concerned for our people

concerned for our people — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 23:33:38 +0000

what kind of person does this. End jobs for 80 percent of atmore !!! Great job there attorney. Thousands of families hungry and homeless !!!! And to all the religiouser than thou’s…..just worry about your own back door and not everyone elses. God can judge his people ! NOT MAN. If you are addicted to gambling or know someone who is then they need help, its not everyone else’s problem that they have a problem !!! HOORAH for wind creek and these politicians need to find something better to do with their time besides make people starve and be hungry from no jobs in atmore !

By: atmore

atmore — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 22:01:40 +0000

I wish they would stop all of this back and forth crap about it is legal, o wait no it’s not. They have been doing this since the casino started making money and everything. I love it being out there, I have paid their light bill a time or 2 i’m sure but it’s my choice to go out there=) Shouldn’t this have all been decided (wether it’s legal or not) before the thing was built and hundereds of jobs were gained from it…Atmore will be wiped off the map if that casino goes…Just sayin, If you dont agree with the gambling and everything that comes along with it, just keep on driving when you pass it. No sense in causing all this fuss over a building. I wish they would focus on something that really should be solved!!!!!!!!

By: Carla

Carla — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 21:52:45 +0000

As the earlier comment read “No one is forcing people to enter Wind Creek Casino” if people so choose to go into the casino to gamble then that is their right. If those same people that are of age and they decide to go buy a six pack of beer then that too is their right. It is also the right of the state of alabama to choose not to enter into a compact with the poarch creek indians. though the state’s educational system is failing miserably because of lack of funds. Would a compact with the state and the tribe not benefit the people of Alabama and Alabama’s future? Are our state officals trying to come up with new ways to generate revenue to save our schools from more proration and more cuts? If so what are those new revenue generating plans they are creating? I’m sure that many of the “haters” that are speaking against the Tribe and their gaming operations had no problem whatsoever with the Tribe donating money to the local area schools. This situation could be argued a million different ways because there is no way for people to see eye to eye.

By: huh

huh — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 21:36:24 +0000

What year is this? I thought it was 2011 where people can decide what they want to do with their own money. The creek gaming center is nice, it brings tourist to Alabama and provides plenty of jobs. It helps surrounding businesses by having more people in the area.

This guy is nuts, why can’t they spend time on a real issue for alabama? Why does he care what citizens themselves decide to do with money they have earned. Its not his call

By: judith

judith — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 21:31:35 +0000

check the records and you will see we have more on stste help now than ever before why because people have gambled every thing they get there hands on i want even buy gas from them are eat there because we are helping them in there sin read your bible and see what sin does