McCain: U.S. May Settle Indian Trust Case

[Eugene]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5139410,00.html

McCain: U.S. May Settle Indian Trust Case

Wednesday July 13, 2005 11:46 PM

By JENNIFER TALHELM

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee
said Congress may settle the nearly decade-old lawsuit in which
American Indians accuse the Interior Department of cheating them out
of billions of dollars in royalties.

But Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said Wednesday the $27.5 billion the
Indians are seeking in a proposed settlement is too much.

<snip>

For more than a century, McCain said, it appears the government
"never really even made any serious attempt at keeping track of the
revenues" it owed the Indians.

The Indians claim the department mismanaged oil, gas, grazing, timber
and other royalties from their lands dating to 1887. Blackfeet Indian
Elouise Cobell and others sued in 1996 to force the government to
account for billions of dollars belonging to about 500,000 Indians.

more...

[mike_c]

1. the indians should refuse to settle-- the gov't has no case....

The U.S. cannot win-- all they can do is drag their feet.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

3. hello

I am somewhat new to all this, but i always thought that the treatment of the nations was horrific by our government.

Thank you for bringing this up. what a weird place. It is nothing like your reputation. It seems sane and comfortable.

[Eugene]

4. Welcome to DU antifaschits!

:hi:

[ChairmanAgnostic]

6. wow.

thanks.
I was just watching the comedy channel, with the echo chamber from hell of (i can't spell his name) the PR guy for the the White house, and wow. I repeat my self.

[mike_c]

5. welcome to DU....

:hi: Sane and comfortable? Jeeze, we must be slipping....

[jedr]

7. welcome to d/u my friend; hope you hit a thousand posts.

What reputation????

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

2. Supposedly the largest class action suit against the federal government

in U.S. history. Records have been intentionally destroyed or negligently allowed to deteriorate so we can never know the true number of billions that our government should have kept in trust for the Indians over the years. Cronyism betwen gas, oil, cattle, and timber barons and government officials suggesting that much of the money from leased Indian land may never even have been collected by our own government. This is as big as scandals get. Yet, the U.S. media doesn't even cover it. It sucks. It really sucks.

[doodadem]

8. Criminal neglect and deceit

I heard the interview on Democracy Now a few weeks ago, with the lady bringing this lawsuit on the tribes' behalf. She is an accountant by trade, and does alot of work for the Council, etc. She said she just got sick and tired of her people coming to her for help that are owed thousands/millions of dollars individually by the U.S. government, that now have no money to pay for medical care, electricity, and necessities of life. Their standard of living is abysmal. The situation is made more shameful in that it continues to be ignored, and the government continues to try to squirm out of paying what is owed.
Furthermore--and here's the real scandal--all of the money owed the tribes has gone into these various governmental accounts, where no one can figure them out. So they keep counting these billions of dollars as "assets" to help balance the federal budget!

[Miss Chybil]

9. Maybe the Indians should take a rich, blonde girl and hide her someplace

on a reservation and maybe they'd get some... Ah, nevermind. Dumb idea.

[powwowdancer]

10. tipi dressing

This is all just so much tipi dressing for McCain's presidential bid. He wants to be able to point at "what he's done" for NDN's; look for him to do some more things to appear to offer crumbs from the G.O.P. table to other minorities. Remember, the supreme court held that the U.S. gov't illegally took the black hills (Paha Sapa) from the Lakota, but I'll not see that get resolved in this incarnation, either. (And yes, the Lakota refused the "hush money" or "fair market value" the gov't offered them for their sacred site). It would set too dangerous a precedent. If the gov't openly admits a single instance of an actionable offense against any first nation, then the dam breaks and ain't no soccer moms or blue collar joes gonna feel to warm and fuzzy towards us when that chicken comes home to roost. It'll mean losing too much money and way too much... LAND. It just ain't time yet. Let's survive BushCo, restore a modicum of sanity and transparency, (not to mention legality), to the gov't, and THEN we'll talk turkey! Folks who are hunkered down in patriot act America just aren't ready yet for that much coffee with their wake-up call.

:dem:
powwowdancer out

[bemildred]

11. Yep.

First nations are an existential threat, and the US Gov't is not about to sit down an talk it out peer to peer just yet. So it's going to continue to be bullshit, bullshit, bullshit and stall, stall, stall. And McCain, of course, is expert at both of those skills.

[whitebear]

12. Pow wow dancer what tribe are you?

My great great grandmother was forced to take the long walk.

Even Native American's casino revenue is being taken by rich,white republicans.:toast: :headbang:

[classysassy]

13. McCain

just one of the good ole boys.Racist a hole.