So, who's the one shipping millions of dollars out of Wisconsin?

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.)

But, even as they blast local airwaves with their “Wisconsin Gaming for Wisconsin” message, the Potawatomi are sending some of their Wisconsin gaming money to Minnesota to start an ad agency.

A quick look at the Potawatomi Business Development Corporation Web site shows that when it comes to funneling money out of Wisconsin, the Potawatomi are experts. Potawatomi has sent millions out of Wisconsin to invest in a luxury hotel in Washington, D.C. They’ve sent Dairyland dollars to a California software company. They’ve spent Wisconsin money to invest in a modular home manufacturer in Minnesota. They’ve poured a lot of Wisconsin dollars into architecture and tech services companies in Oklahoma.

Protecting their monopoly by killing competition apparently requires that Potawatomi say and do anything – even if the right hand criticizes what the left hand is doing. Sorry, Potawatomi – a quick geography check shows our nation’s capital is still about 800 miles to the east, and sunny California 2,000 miles to the west. Minnesota isn’t Wisconsin, and Oklahoma is a long way from the Menomonee Valley.

Recent polling shows the Potawatomi’s ads are a big flop – in fact, more people actually favor casino competition for our state. It seems like no one’s really buying the “Wisconsin Gaming for Wisconsin” argument.

And with millions of dollars’ worth of out-of-state investments, we guess the Potawatomi aren’t buying their own argument either.

Support good jobs and positive economic development right here in Wisconsin by signing the online petition for real casino competition in the region.