Tribes are subject to same restrictions

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, February 17, 2007

Regarding the Feb. 12 letter, “Tax exemptions are for municipalities”:

The letter writer’s response to a column written by Jerry Cornfield is way off base and maybe even a bit comical. The column the writer refers to was written about legislation being considered which would exempt tribal governments from paying taxes on lands owned off-reservation.

The writer completely shifts the focus of the issue toward the tribes’ political contribution process.

To declare that the Democrats rise to “near super-majority control” of the Legislature because of “unrestricted political contributions” to the Democratic Party is the comical part of his letter. Quite simply, tribes are held to the same restrictions as everyone else! Even if they weren’t, would the politicians accept donations that exceed the limits and risk sanctions? It’s absurd to believe that tribes are running around making unlimited political donations to any party, Democratic, Republican or otherwise.

Tribes contribute to politicians like everyone else. Does Boeing receive the same type of negative criticism for its savvy political donation policies? Microsoft? Tribes are drumming to the same song as others, perhaps with a different set of ultimate goals. The goals of tribes are not Wall Street driven, they’re driven by the desire to help their people rise from a history of poverty.

I commend the Native American community for its political savvy. The historical plight of the Native Americans is well documented and their continued efforts to rise from poverty have been well received by most citizens of this state, including many legislators on both sides of the aisle.

Now that the record has been set straight and we know that tribes have always been held to that standard, will the writer publicly support the legislation being proposed? What do you suppose is the probability of that?

Les Parks

Tulalip