Kempthorne Belongs in Communist China

by: Bill Liblick

Is there any difference between the United States and countries like China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea or Russia? We think we live in a free and open democracy, but when we can allow a dictator like Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to yield so much power we are all proven wrong.

How can we really distinguish from a Hu Jintao, Fidel Castro, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong, Vladimir Putin or a Dirk Kempthorne? They all do as they please while ignoring the wishes of the public and stab their own political allies in the back.  

Kempthorne is so pompous that President George Bush, United State Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Governor Eliot Spitzer, our Federal and State Judicial System, elected officials from every level of government, businessmen and everyday citizens could not persuade him to give the final signature needed to bring legalized Indian run casino gaming to Sullivan County.

Amazing how one man could be so powerful isn’t it?  Only the United States Congress or perhaps President Bush can override him. In fact, Bush should do the right thing and ask for Kempthorne’s resignation.

Is the issue dead for us? No, it clearly is not. In fact, what Kempthorne did could very well bring the issue to the forefront in next month’s Presidential Primary, and lead to the approval we so desperately need. Is it an unnecessary setback? Absolutely!

What is troublesome is that there was never any independent decision making on Kempthorne’s part, he knew what he was going to do from day one. He clearly made us into fools.

The question does remain however, why did our arrogant and condescending Interior Secretary wait an entire year to render his decision? Was it because he wanted to lump all Indian land for trade deals together? Each and every request should have been weighed on its own merit. The Sullivan County situation was far different from others, and none had the wide range of support ours did, or even previous approval.

Indeed the Federal Government approved an Indian run Casino at Monticello Raceway not once but twice. That means that there was both Democratic and Republican support and two extensive environmental studies. 

By stating that "the tribe's application fails to carefully address and comprehensively analyze the potential negative impacts on reservation life and does not clearly demonstrate why these negative impacts should be outweighed by the financial benefits of tribal ownership of a remote gaming facility," Kempthorne proves that he is nothing more than an egotistical pompous idiot.

The fact of the matter Mr. Kempthorne is that the land for trade deal was a win win situation for everyone. It would have settled millions upon millions of dollars in land claims, brought in much needed revenue stream to New York State, and assisted in rescuing Sullivan County from possible bankruptcy.

The Monticello Raceway project alone was expected to attract over six million visitors a year, and generate over 3,000 jobs. New York State would have received an estimated $100 million a year, while Sullivan County would have received $15 million a year just in impact fees.

As Pennsylvania begins to flood the market with gaming and areas such as Connecticut and New Jersey expand their casinos, naturally there comes a point of over saturation.

That is why the developers of the casinos for Sullivan County proposed more than just constructing gambling halls. Included in the package were high end shops, restaurants, hotels, spas, and entertainment venues. Lest not forget the positive ripple down effect that would have been felt throughout Sullivan County.

Clearly all of our eggs should not have been placed in one basket. There should have been a clear-cut campaign to get our state legislature to approve legalized casino gaming for Sullivan County such as Atlantic City and Las Vegas, while Indian Gaming was awaiting approval. But, for some reason that issue has been ignored for years. Were people like Donald Trump so influential that our State Senate and Assembly would not even consider its passage? Perhaps it was just laziness on their part, or a belief that this form of legalized gaming would never have been approved.

We are in real serious trouble in Sullivan County. We lack economic development, the county is being run on a shoestring, and who knows what will now happen to our already plummeting property values. I bet more tax-exempt groups will rush to purchase land here.

The only good news is that we can probably pick up land for a new jail at a really cheap price.

All this reminds me of the ultimate “Daily News” headline: “FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD." This time it’s Dirk Kempthorne delivering the same message to Sullivan County.

Sad isn’t it, we just cannot get a break.

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