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The In Box blog is a general news and discussion site for the News Department of North Country Public Radio. In Box contact information 
Latest NCPR News
The In Box blog is a general news and discussion site for the News Department of North Country Public Radio. In Box contact information
Latest NCPR News
Why do the Indian reservations, sovereign nations that they are, always get these grants when other deserving communities within the United States, who actually pay taxes, lose out? Another glowing example of this is the Mohegan Sun Casino in CT. They received the bulk of the stimulus money for the entire Northeast portion of the country. There were several projects here in the North Country depending upon some of that money in order to move forward. Now they’re dead in the water. Why, exactly, do these sovereign nations get our money?
The broadband is meaningless to the Indians unless they are allowed to sell cigarettes online.
If the government wants to help the Indians, they should allow the Indians to sell cigarettes online to anyone.
If the government wants to help all retailers, they should drop the criminal taxes imposed on all sellers and purchasers of tobacco products.
The only Big Tobacco companies are the Federal, NYS and NY City governments.
Too bad about broadband for the region. It is one of the most important economic development moves we can make.
As for Rez. There are some programs out there to help native american populations due to low life expectanccy, poverty and and high unemployment. Akwesasne is trying to do go things with gambling money; job creation, educational programs. It is going the opposite direction of the north country. A little known fact is that most of the casino jobs are held by non-indians.
DBW,
I certainly understand the need for assistance to some degree on native reservations. But why are we giving them vast amounts of stimulus money that should be going to local economic development projects? We already give them large sums of other aide. Frankly, they shouldn’t even be considered for the Reinvestment act money. And as you said, they already have substantial revenue from the casino’s which they’re pumping back into their communities (and rightly so and good for them). But we’ve already given them a monopoly (except for the lottery and pull tabs at not-for-profits, etc….)on gambling for profit, what else do they need?
When do we have a frank discussion about all these related topics. Legalized gambling, cigarette tax revenue, tax revenue in general, aide to natives, etc….It just seems someone should begin to ask these bigger questions when our communities consistently lose out to the reservations as the pot of available aid grows smaller and smaller. In other words, why are they exempt from our new fiscal reality? The same problems you mentioned in your post aren’t exclusive to Native American reservations but are growing here in the North Country as well.
And most of the smuggling/drug jobs are held by indians. What a great point.
Pete, there’s more than just tobacco. There’s online gambling, porn, porn, porn and probably a few other things along the lines of those truly beneficial contributions they can get involved in.
I find the idea that broadband will somehow turn an area into a mecca of development, green development at that, completely laughable. It’s a $10 million dollar waste of money.
Bret,
I agree that Broadband is not the answer. While I think it might encourage internet related businesses to locate here and is a good infrastructure invest to some degree, It’s not the “magic bullet” to economic prosperity some make it out to be.
And you’re absolutely right about the “black market” revenue the reservation up north benefits from. We’ve probably all heard the stories of people in and around the reservation who are millionaires due to the drugs, cigarette running, weapons and human trafficking that occur there.
I’m just saying local politicians should begin investigating why our communities aren’t getting some of this reinvestment money.
Broadband is not just a “build it and they will come” concept. If one wants to at least stay competitive then access to the rest of the economic world is necessary. Bringing broadband to rural areas is not unlike the “rural electrification” that took place earlier in the 20th century. Rural areas generally do not have the wherewithal to develop it entirely on it’s own.
Now, “build it and they will come” can work for us to a certain extent here in the North Country. We are in a place that is attractive for people to live in… if they can find work. Real broadband does open up the possibility for much more telecommuting and that kind of business development than is going on up here now, and with the attractiveness of the North Country there will be others that will choose to live and/or open a business here if telecommuting is realistic. It is not going to be the “be all and end all” but it is another opportunity that is realistic for the development of small business.
Mark,
That’s pretty much what I’m saying in regard to Broadband. It’s but one tool in the box that may encourage business development. But it certainly isn’t the “biggest tool in the box.” But again, why aren’t the local politicians asking why this grant request is being denied yet again? It says right in the article that the Dept. of Commerce gave no reason. Well, frankly, that shouldn’t be acceptable. Dig deeper and demand an answer. And while they’re at it, find out why Indian reservations seem to have an inside track on these funds. There seems to be many examples besides this particular grant request. What’s the story? Also, I think the local media should take the opportunity to really investigate the entire process as well.
I don’t care if all of the North Country has free broadband access, it’s not going to make a difference unless this area becomes business friendly. NY as a whole is not business friendly and the North Co is only lukewarm to the idea. Anytime there’s talk of real job makers coming to the area it’s certain that a whole slew of groups will appear from out of the blue to fight it. Until we get over that we’re stuck. Just imagine the chaos if someplace like that old iron mine in Star Lake was found to have some incredibly valuable and needed commodity in it’s waste rock. I can guarantee with absolute certainly there would be untold number of groups fighting any growth there tooth and nail. That’s certain and that’s what we face to a larger or lesser extent throughout our area. Someone wants to establish a 10K head dairy and suddenly there are people right there to fight it tooth and nail. Tell people you want to put tank farms back on the St Lawrence, HAH! Never happen. So until we get enough hungry, cold people I see nothing changing.
You guys must love these days I get to babysit…
The size of the dead zone and the mean age of residents will continue to rise until we get into the 21st century. Why would anybody under 50 want to even come up here on vacation if they couldn’t get online with DSL or broadband?
Bret,
You have a point, but as someone who lives and works within a mere 5 miles or so of a nearly 10K dairy which has a history of a massive manure spill into the Black River and spreading its liquefied, hormone and phosphorous rich manure all over Lewis County, I can tell you people should have cause for concern.
With any project of such nature there certainly needs to be due diligence. I think it’s a matter of balancing the need to be “business friendly” and protecting water sheds (as is the case of a 10K dairy) and other resources. Like most things in life, the challenge is to find the right balance. Not everyone fights tooth and nail, just that they want to be sure that proper safeguards are in place and their issues addressed.
It would be interesting to know from real estate agents if they have had potential buyers who list broadband or DSL as a deal maker or breaker.
Clapton, I agree completely, but do we really need a giant NO sign in response to every proposal? That’s only a mild exaggeration.