This article [http://www.startribune.com/opinion/otherviews/137720973.html] was written by Kevin Leecy— a real creep, who not only beats the crap out of his wife (he was arrested, and convicted, for beating her unconscious), but works for some of the most violent and corrupt mobsters in the United States.
As Kevin Leecy is fully aware, not one single Indian or Indian Nation or their tribal gaming enterprises owns anything in these casinos or anything associated with these casinos— one family of mobsters owns the slot machines, another family of mobsters owns the restaurants, another family of mobsters own the bars, another mobster family owns the hotels and motels, etc. All that the Indian Nations own is one great big pile of debt which enables the owners of the slot machines to walk away with huge un-taxed profits.
The lawsuit filed by White Earth Indian Nation against one of the most violent organized crime families in the United States clearly demonstrates the ties between organized crime and this so-called Indian Gaming Industry where everyone profits, including the politicians, except for Indians. There was a huge settlement awarded but collecting on that settlement will be another matter.
For more background information see:
 
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/12/21/tribal-casino-settlement/
http://www.whiteearth.com/data/upfiles/files/Jan52011_2.pdf
The only thing the Indian Nations own associated with these casinos is a huge pile of debt which is breeding massive poverty.
 
There is a huge price to pay for gambling with the mob:  
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/930823/archive_015665_3.htm
 
The price Indian Nations and Indian people pay for gambling with the mob is called P-O-V-E-R-T-Y; massive poverty.
Kevin Leecy, Marge Anderson and the rest of these crooked and corrupt tribal officials signing this statement— and, yes, they are all crooked and corrupt— force over 44,000 Minnesota casino workers and those employed in the related hotel/motel, restaurants, bars and theme parks to work in loud, noisy, smoke-filled workplaces that would be violations of state and federal labor laws in any other places of employment here in Minnesota as he enables a bunch of rich white mobsters to abscond with the majority of the profits.
Who believes Leecy’s financial figures? Only those who allow themselves to be duped because they “don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth.” No one can check Leecy’s figures because no appropriate financial records are kept as recent court trials have shown. In fact, the people of the White Earth Nation were bilked out of over $700 million by mobster Anthony Medure— almost one billion dollars. And even with the winning of this law suit the White Earth Band will be lucky if they are able to take possession of an old dump truck from Anthony Medure.
I find it ironic that Archie LaRose, the Tribal Chair of Leech Lake Indian Nation, had the unmitigated gall to sign this opinion piece after his own father and mother were found to be stealing the casino blind. And how much did Melanie Benjamin steal from the casino operations without being prosecuted and here we have Marge Anderson signing this. And then here we have Floyd “Buck” Jourdain signing this while his drug dealing family using Red Lake’s casinos to push their filthy drugs from Red Lake’s three casinos and their Warroad Casino on Lake-of-the-Woods maintains a “party boat” that forces casino workers into prostitution .
This is a disgrace that the Minneapolis Star Tribune would allow this kind of opinion piece to be published without challenging anything that has been written— a bunch of lies intending to deceive by covering up the facts— all of which mirrors the corruption entailed in the Indian Gaming Industry intended to make a few wealthy dregs of society even richer directly off the poverty being forcibly imposed on the Indian people and all casino workers.
These casino operations create huge pools of cheap labor with their poverty wages, which other businesses appreciate because these huge pools of cheap labor push all wages across this state down.
Kevin Leecy and his battalion of high-paid lobbyists (And how many of these high-paid lobbyists are Native American— what’s wrong, there are no Native Americans qualified to do this lobbying? What qualifications for lobbying Minnesota politicians  does one need other than being able to carry around a brown paper bag full of cash and handing it out while putting a handful here and there into one’s own pocket?)
Leecy has a lot of nerve talking about problems of people living on Indian Reservations when he is directly involved in creating many of these problems while the politicians the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association back with huge bribes are directly responsible for creating the rest of the problems— problems ranging from:
1. Massive poverty (casino workers paid poverty wages are going to be poor— any school child understands this connection between poverty wages and poverty); over 300,000 people, the family members of those employed in these casinos and related businesses in the jobs Kevin Leecy boasts about creating are all poor.
2. Ill health from working day in and day out in smoke-filled casinos— heart and lung diseases, cancers and diabetes complications related to cigarette smoke.
3. Workers with no rights at work in the workplace— as we have seen, gaming officials and management harass, threaten to fire and fire casino workers who voice opinions and participate in activities contrary to those of casino managements. Hundreds of casino workers in Minnesota were fired when they clamored for casino workers to be included in Minnesota’s “Freedom to Breaths” legislation which our Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council led efforts to get enacted only to be left out of the protection by Minnesota legislators including those who call themselves ”progressive”  and talk about “containing health care costs.” For those like Minnesota DFL State Senator John Marty, containing the health care costs of 44,000 casino workers was not as important as receiving what is in the “brown paper bags” delivered by over thirty high-paid lobbyists at election time. It is all about “money, money, money;” the money being stolen from the Indian Nations and Indian people.
Kevin Leecy does not mention casino workers are forced to sign statements as the condition of their employment that they will not engage in union organizing lest they will be immediately terminated. Hundreds of workers have been fired from the huge Mystic Lake Casino operation for being engaged in union organizing. This is blatant illegal conduct on the part of Stanley Crooks who oversees Mystic Lake operations and because Stanley Crooks is such a great “philanthropist,” elected officials are willing to overlook this. Just forcing people to sign a statement as a condition of their employment that they understand they will be terminated should they be found to be engaged in union organizing is, in and of itself, blatantly illegal and in opposition to everything the United Nation’s Declaration of Human Rights stands for not to mention the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights which remain the supreme and over-riding laws of all the Indian Nations— all of whom fly the flag of the United States of America.
Why doesn’t Kevin Leecy tell us about the thousands of casino workers who have been fired for having done nothing wrong at all under the “at will” terms of employment— and how these casino managements will spend tens of thousands of dollars fighting to deny these workers unjustly terminated unemployment benefits?
Kevin Leecy doesn’t tell us how the Executive Director of the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association lives. Why didn’t Kevin Leecy ask the Star Tribune to have his picture taken on the multi-million dollar estate of John McCarthy so Native Americans can see how this man lives at their expense?
And why didn’t Kevin Leecy and Marge Anderson tell us about the nifty little business John McCarthy, this rich white man, bought himself with the proceeds from Indian Gaming.
John McCarthy purchased Tony Doom Supply Company, a campaign supply specialty business.
John McCarthy, the Executive Director of the Minnesota Indian Gaming Association, hands out bribes— campaign contributions to all the Democrats and many Republicans— with one hand; and with the other hand he takes the money back for himself through Tony Doom Supply Company which produces campaign yard signs, pens and pencils, and sells the politicians their office furniture, etc.

Tax-payers pay for much of this luxury office furniture for their legislative offices at prices more than ten times it could be purchased from at any other office supply company… quite the scam McCarthy has going— the Minnesota Attorney General, Secretary of State and even Governor Dayton purchase office furniture and equipment from McCarthy’s Tony Doom Enterprises— as do politicians all over the United States who are bribed with the funds derived from Indian Gaming as their pay-offs for creating and supporting the “Compacts” which create and enable all of this corruption.
Kevin Leecy, Marge Anderson, John McCarthy— nothing but a bunch of swindling crooks stealing from Indian people while simultaneously pushing Indian people further into poverty.
By the way; is there a reason why the Minneapolis Star Tribune never questions Kevin Leecy, John McCarthy, Marge Anderson, Floyd “Buck” Jourdain or any of the other signers of this opinion piece as to how much they make? For the answer to this question, check out all the casino advertising in the Minneapolis Star Tribune— ditto for all the other newspaper, radio and television stations.
Kevin Leecy got let off for beating the crap out of his wife and the Minneapolis Star Tribune lets him get away with peddling these lies… it is all about money, money, money— the mobsters and the lobbyists along with newspaper owners and politicians just love money; their love of money supersedes the truth and addressing the problems of the people associated with poverty.
Any day of the week anyone can sit in a Beltrami County courtroom and see people having beat their wives like Kevin Leecy did being sent off to the state prisons;  yet here we have this guy writing an opinion piece that is nothing but unchallenged lie after unchallenged lie photographed in the Fortune Bay Casino in a nice fancy suit when he should be photographed in a prison uniform behind prison bars.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/137357813.html
 
 
Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing Council


Minnesota tribes are about more than gambling

Some Minnesotans refer to tribes not by their official names but by their casinos’ names, such as “Grand Casino” for the