TAX RIDDLE….When is a tax hike not a tax hike? When the money comes from Indian tribes:
The appointment of attorney Daniel Kolkey [to negotiate new gambling deals with the tribes] came a day after the governor reiterated in his State of the State speech that he wanted to extract a significant share of the tribes’ gambling revenue to help balance California’s budget.
….”Clearly, we think the current compacts do not provide for fair payment to the state in return for what is a monopoly,” Kolkey said in a telephone news conference.
During the recall campaign in which he ousted Davis, Schwarzenegger declared that tribes should pay as much as 25% of their revenue to the state ? which could amount to $1.25 billion a year.
Maybe the tribes ought to pay higher taxes on their revenues, maybe they shouldn’t. I don’t really have an opinion. But if raising taxes is the wrong way to solve our budget crisis, as Arnold keeps telling us, why should tribal casinos be an exception?
