Menominee Tribal Chair Lisa Waukau knows the benefits that a casino in Kenosha would provide. Not only would the casino provide benefits to the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin, one of the poorest tribes in the state, but would also bring economic benefits to the state as a whole.
With real casino competition in Southeast Wisconsin, the Menominee Indian Tribe would be the largest economic contributor to the But the Menominee Tribe is already a big part of
Happy Holidays.
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It’s two-fer Wednesday at Casino Competition for Second, take a look at this cool video from the Las Vegas Strip, where workers imploded the old New Frontier casino-hotel to make way for an $8 billion resort that will include residences, a luxury hotel, shops…and a brand-new casino. This $8 billion resort is a stone’s throw from the $5 billion in new Las Vegas hotel/casino developments we blogged about last week. Competition continues to bring positive economic development and investment to some communities, and it can do good things for
Support fair competition in
A friend of Casino Competition for These three projects represent a $5 billion investment in one of the most competitive gaming markets in the world – and you don’t invest that kind of money if you don’t think you can make a healthy return. Casino competition seems to be alive and well – and creating jobs, economic opportunities and enhanced tourism – in
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The Small Business Times piece by Casino Competition for Wisconsin exposes the real “soldiers” in Potawatomi’s war against competition, blogging that "an army of high-priced lobbyists, political pollsters, ad executives, PR experts and lawyers are carrying out Potawatomi's anti-competition battle plan - sadly, even several Milwaukee-area nonprofits beholden to the Potawatomi for funding have been drafted to lend their name to the misguided cause."
You can read the “Milwaukee Biz Blog” for yourself here.
Help put an end to Potawatomi’s Southeast Wisconsin monopoly by signing the online petition.
“A Litany of Greed,” the new Casino Competition For Wisconsin white paper detailing the Forest County Potawatomi’s $5.4 million (and counting) campaign against competition, is making some waves in Potawatomi’s own off-reservation back yard. Milwaukee radio talk show host Charlie Sykes used the Litany to blast the Potawatomi’s pro-monopoly crusade on his show Monday morning, telling his listeners, “Almost everything you see and hear attacking that (Kenosha) casino is bankrolled by the Potawatomi.”
Say yes to real casino competition in
The Forest County Potawatomi’s no-competition campaign has left many people shaking their heads. They see the ridiculous ads, read about the outrageous lobbying targets and watch in disbelief as Potawatomi’s leaders use bogus economic claims, publicity stunts, front groups and other expensive tactics to try to kill the Menominee Tribe’s proposed Kenosha casino, dodge competition and lock in Potawatomi’s Southeast Wisconsin gaming monopoly.
The Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau recently released an in-depth report on the state Division of Gaming that revealed the State of Wisconsin saw a budget boost of more than $118 million from Indian gaming in fiscal 2005-2006 alone. Among other things, it shows that Governor Doyle is doing a good job making sure tribal gaming benefits the State of Wisconsin.
What’s really interesting is that had the Kenosha casino been operational during that time frame, the state would have likely seen about $40 million more during that fiscal period – enough to educate more than 3,700 Wisconsin public school children – as because of casino competition.
As part of their fight to stamp out competition, the Forest County Potawatomi like to brag that they contribute more to the State of Wisconsin annually than any other Indian tribe or Wisconsin business. A couple of years ago, they built a huge ad campaign around that very premise.
But as usual, the monopoly-focused Potawatomi only told part of the story. They completely skipped an important detail – that if the Kenosha casino becomes a reality, the Menominee will pay the state even more than the Potawatomi. In their ads, the Potawatomi boasted that they’d give $1 billion to Wisconsin over the next 25 years. Well, with the Kenosha casino in place, the Menominee would give $2 billion in the same time period. In other words, real casino competition in the region would result in $3 billion total to help educate Wisconsin children, care for Wisconsin seniors, strengthen Wisconsin businesses and make our state a better place. One can only imagine the positive impact that extra money would have had on our state’s budget.
By focusing on themselves instead of the big picture, Potawatomi’s leaders are cheating Wisconsin out of hundreds of millions of dollars, thousands of new jobs and other much-needed economic resources. Potawatomi’s fight against competition isn’t just hurting the Menominee – a very large, very poor Wisconsin tribe. It’s hurting the entire state and Wisconsin’s economic future.
Competition is a fact of life in the business world. Our hope is that Potawatomi’s leaders will soon recognize that reality and embrace the tremendous opportunity real casino competition will bring to Wisconsin. The LAB report is proof of competition’s positive economic potential.
Sign the online petition to help bring real casino competition – and its related economic benefits – to Wisconsin.
The MGM Grand Detroit competes with two other downtown casinos, the MotorCity Casino and Greektown Casino. All three started out as temporary facilities – and despite heavy competition, they thrived. MotorCity casino opened its permanent gaming space in June and will debut a 17-story, 400-room hotel in November. Greektown plans to open a major casino and hotel complex in October 2008.
Here’s the kicker: All three of these multimillion-dollar, large scale entertainment centers are within five miles of each other. Five miles!
Casino competition has been good for these businesses, for
The Forest County Potawatomi should take notice – multiple studies have shown that two competitive casinos can succeed and thrive in Southeast Wisconsin, bringing the region many of the economic benefits
It’s nice to see businesses and a community thriving by embracing competition. We’d love to see it in
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The media are starting to catch on to the Potawatomi lobbying story we told you about last week. Check out this item from today’s WisPolitics.com “DC Wrap,” which points out that the Forest County Potawatomi spent more to lobby federal officials than any other We’ve already told you about the $200,000 the Potawatomi paid D.C. powerbroker Ed Gillespie and others to carry the tribe’s pro-monopoly message in the Nation’s Capital. Additional documents now disclose a third-heavy hitting firm (and another $100K payment) on the Potawatomi’s D.C. lobbying roster.
The reports, filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate, reveal that the Potawatomi paid for the services of two lobbyists from the big-namee firm of Barbour Griffith & Rogers.
Those lobbyists include the firm’s president, a well-known Republican operative who served as chief of staff for a former Wisconsin Governor and Cabinet member. (Ironically, his former boss signed the Menominee Tribe’s 2000 Compact with the State of
While Potawatomi’s other hired guns went so far as to reach into the Executive Office of the President (!), the new reports show BGR’s lobbyists focused their attention on the U.S. House of Representatives and the Department of the Interior (the agency currently reviewing the Kenosha casino proposal). Their subject matter is listed only as “Tribal Interests.” Of course, we all know that Potawatomi’s biggest interest is in sidestepping competition and preserving the monopoly of their off-reservation
BGR’s folks are no amateurs. Other BGR clients include international (and deep-pocketed) giants like IBM, Lockheed Martin, Louis Vuitton – Moët Hennesy, Pfizer…even the Republic of India and the State of Qatar. Their Web site touts the firm’s expertise at “stopping or changing harmful policy before it can take effect,” and Potawatomi’s leaders seem to be pulling out all the stops when it comes to thwarting what they see as a harmful threat to their monopoly.
We’re sure there’s more to come – and you can be sure we’ll bring it to you.
Send a real message to officials in Madison and Washington by signing the online petition for casino competition in
They haven’t been able to get Kenosha voters, the Wisconsin Legislature or Congress to clamp a government lock on their monopoly, and now it looks like Potawatomi leaders may be eyeing a more powerful ally in their fight against competition. Newly uncovered documents show that Potawatomi’s federal lobbying team had a pretty lofty target during the first half of 2007 – the folks at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.According to reports (look here and here) filed with the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the House of Representatives, the Forest County Potawatomi Community is lobbying the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). Reports show the Potawatomi had 20 high-priced lobbyists on the ground in Washington during the first six months of 2007. The group – which included one of D.C.’s best-known power brokers and former, high-level Congressional staffers – lobbied on Land Into Trust, Gaming Reform, Tribal Economic Development and other issues before the EOP, House, Senate and U.S. Department of the Interior.
While the reports are deliberately vague about exactly what Potawatomi’s lobbyists talked about with the President’s closest advisers (though we doubt they were trying to arrange a special White House tour), they do show that the tribe plunked down at least $200,000 for D.C. lobbying from Jan. 1 to June 30 of this year. That’s right – nearly a quarter of a million dollars to help carry Potawatomi’s anti-competition message to the highest offices in the land. No one ever said hanging on to a monopoly was cheap.
Potawatomi’s leaders have certainly shown a lot of bravado in their campaign against competition, but this one takes the cake. Other companies that lobbied the EOP during the same time frame included heavy hitters like DuPont, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Exxon Mobil, the National Rifle Association, General Motors, Ford Motor Company and General Electric. The Potawatomi are playing in the big leagues, apparently believing that preserving their Southeast Wisconsin monopoly is a matter of such national importance that it belongs on the agenda of the President of the United States and his closest advisers.
Candidly, we think it’s an awfully tall order to expect a Republican administration to stand in the way of free enterprise and open competition. After all, the GOP understands that competition benefits American consumers – it’s the American way. But Potawatomi’s leaders have shown they’ll stop at nothing to sidestep competition, and this is yet another example of how far they’ll go to keep hold of their monopoly.
Speaking of the President’s closest advisers, we’ve also learned that that D.C. power-broker mentioned above is now one of them! That’s right, he’s no longer part of Potawatomi’s lobbying lineup because he took a new job – as special counsel to the President. Yes, all of us who care about fair competition in
The plot thickens – and we’ll keep you up to date on the latest developments with Potawatomi’s swanky
A favorite refrain in the Potawatomi battle against competition is to cite the distance between the Menominee Reservation and
That’s just plain false. And it underscores yet another one of those “I can’t believe the Potawatomi are trying to peddle that hypocritical bunk” moments.
First of all, Dr. David R. M. Beck, a professor of Native American studies at the
“The southern region of Old Menominee country was vast – it extended south of the Milwaukee River into northern Illinois, along the shores of Lake Michigan and west to the Mississippi River. This was long a vital place for the Menominee Indians.
Perhaps the irony of having their own off-reservation
It seems the Potawatomi need lessons in history and geography. It’s especially laughable that in their zeal to keep their monopoly, the Potawatomi are complaining – quite loudly – about the distance between the proposed
But the distance between Potawatomi’s
Oops.
The Forest County Potawatomi, whose competition-free Milwaukee casino brings in millions and millions of dollars every week and has made them one of the richest tribes in the state, apparently don’t mind letting Wisconsin taxpayers pick up the healthcare tab for some of their casino employees.
Recent figures from the State Department of Health and Family Services place Potawatomi among the top 50 employers with the most participants in BadgerCare, the state’s tax-funded healthcare program for the working poor.
The state anticipates taxpayers will pick up more than $160,000 in BadgerCare costs for Potawatomi employees in 2007. In stark contrast, Potawatomi’s Milwaukee casino currently pulls in about $250 million a year – and anticipates doubling that when its expansion is complete.
Working men and women in
It’s an interesting contrast to the Forest County Potawatomi, whose multimillion-dollar, over-the-top response to potential competition has been to fight tooth and nail to avoid it.
Menominee’s Chairperson says it best in her statement:
"As we reach out in friendship and congratulations to our Stockbridge-Munsee brothers and sisters, our hope is that the Forest County Potawatomi Community is watching closely. The Potawatomi have spent millions in a relentless attempt to kill our proposed Kenosha entertainment center, but having a monopoly isn’t the real key to business success. Accepting competition gracefully and working hard in a competitive environment is."
Hear, hear.
Say “yes” to real casino competition for Southeast Wisconsin by signing the online petition.
Potawatomi has one of the country’s most respected construction firms building its $250 million off-reservation casino expansion in Downtown Milwaukee. It’s a very good company, with a solid Milwaukee presence, but it’s certainly not a Wisconsin company. It’s actually headquartered in Rhode Island – on the East Coast! Plus, it has other offices in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware and New York. (New York? Can you get more East Coast than New York?) It also has offices in Arizona, California, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Overseeing a $250 million casino expansion is no small contract, and one could reasonably presume that the economic rewards are extending far beyond the constructor’s Milwaukee office. In fact, it’s highly likely that a good chunk of Potawatomi’s Wisconsin construction money is going…to the East Coast.
Bet you won’t see that in Potawatomi’s big-bucks anti-competition ad campaign.
Speak out against Potawatomi’s pro-monopoly hypocrisy by signing the online petition.
We’ve talked before about the army of high-priced lobbyists trying to secure a government-sanctioned monopoly for the Potawatomi in the State Capitol. Well, it turns out that one is priced a little higher than the others.Wisconsin Ethics Board records show one lobbyist was paid $39,000 between January and June 2007 to carry Potawatomi’s message in
That’s right. Potawatomi paid one lobbyist $39,000 for 6.5 hours of work. We know Potawatomi has spared no expense to squash competition and maintain its monopoly, but $6,000 an hour? Must be really persuasive.
Express your opposition to a government-backed Potawatomi monopoly by signing the online petition.
There’s only one review of the Forest County Potawatomi’s competition-free Milwaukee casino on TripAdvisor (which bills itself as the Web’s best source of unbiased travel reviews) – but it’s a zinger.
After detailing a number of bad experiences with Potawatomi Bingo Casino’s slots, smoke and smells, a recent visitor has this to say:
“And the worst thing? The Potawatomi are doing their absolute best to block the construction of a casino in
Clearly we’re not the only ones who can see right through Potawatomi’s anti-competition, pro-monopoly crusade. What’s truly unfortunate is that Potawatomi’s monopoly-based complacency could be coloring the way potential tourists view our region – more than 16 million people from 192 countries visited TripAdvisor in the last week alone.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – competition creates better products and better experiences for consumers. Eliminating Potawatomi’s monopoly will make Potawatomi a better business, a more attractive tourism destination and a stronger community asset. With real competition, everyone wins.
Sign the online petition to help create a thriving, competitive gaming marketplace in
Many people agree that competition is good for a free-market society and that strong businesses thrive in a competitive marketplace. We’ve received an overwhelming positive response to our online petition. We’d like to thank all of the individuals who support the Menominee project and our efforts to help bring real casino competition to Southeast Wisconsin.
Listed below are a just a few of the comments we’ve received from residents and supporters of the Kenosha casino – both regional and statewide:
To show your support for competition, please sign our online petition.
It looks like the Potawatomi have added to their business development agency.
You’ll remember that this is the group that handles Potawatomi’s investments in a
It’s the group that ships Potawatomi’s
Surely the Potawatomi can’t believe their anti-competition hypocrisy is fooling anyone.
Help stamp out Potawatomi’s anti-competition hypocrisy by signing the online petition.
We’ve all seen and heard the current $200,000+ ad buy paid for by the Potawatomi as part of their overall effort to maintain their monopoly and restrict competition . . . and hurt Wisconsin. One of the red herrings in the Potawatomi campaign is a claim that “there are no jobs” for Milwaukee’s central city residents at the Kenosha casino.
So let’s sort this out:
They can’t have it both ways, even if they pay for it.
A recent national AP story ran in the Waukesha Freeman about competition among casinos in Atlantic City. At least 11 casinos are undergoing massive expansion and renovation plans as they continue to battle for market share with Las Vegas and casinos in neighboring states, the AP reported. Total investment: at least $10 billion!
“Almost every casino here is spending millions of dollars to either expand or renovate, or has just finished doing so,” said the AP dispatch.
Maybe the Forest County Potawatomi can look at this example and see the importance of competition and the benefits it would bring to Southeastern Wisconsin.
It’s Week 3 of the Forest County Potawatomi’s $200,000 anti-competition ad campaign, and Milwaukee influencers still aren’t buying what Potawatomi’s silly “No East Coast” ads are trying to sell.** “All of the elected officials…the prominent elected officials who were at the press conference last week in Kenosha and Racine…said ‘yeah, we want this.’ This business community says they want this. They’ve had referendums where the voters have said they want this. So who outside of Connecticut would want this? Well, the people in Kenosha and Racine, not to mention…the Menominee, who are actually from Wisconsin. They would also like this as well.”
** “(The ads say) this will not bring jobs to Milwaukee. Well, no…it will bring jobs to Kenosha. Which is why the people in Kenosha…want it to be in Kenosha.”
** “The Mohegan are still the minority to the Menominee…the invisible tribe. My understanding is the Menominee actually went to the Potawatomi and said, “Would you like to be our partners in this?” And the Potawatomi said “No, we got our deal…we got our set-up in Milwaukee…why would we want to help you guys?”
** “What’s really going on here is that the Potawatomi have a lot more money…they’ve got an investment to protect…they do not want to have any competition.”
And while economic studies show that competition can flourish in Southeast Wisconsin, and that Milwaukee will continue to do just fine with a Kenosha casino in place, we love Charlie’s suggestion for a new tagline for Potawatomi’s commercials. “Milwaukee loses, Kenosha wins, and the Menominee get the money that we want all of!”
Charlie recently included Potawatomi’s ads as a topic on his weekly TV show as well. Milwaukee PR exec Jeff Fleming has an interesting take on the matter – he says the Potawatomi are trying to create an issue to protect their monopoly, and are conveniently ignoring the fact that they had outside help when they established their own off-reservation casino nearly two decades ago.
Help put an end to Potawatomi’s anti-competition hypocrisy by signing the online petition.
Proving they’ll say and do anything to squelch competition and maintain their government-backed monopoly, Potawatomi’s latest expensive ad campaign complains that for a few years, a very small portion of Kenosha casino proceeds would go to an out-of-state tribe helping Wisconsin’s Menominee Tribe with the project. (The Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut joined the Kenosha project team only after Potawatomi refused repeated offers to partner with Menominee.) 
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
Sign the online petition to bring honest competition to Potawatomi’s monopoly.
