January 2009 archive

SHOSHONE-BANNOCK TRIBE: Statement in Support of Larry EchoHawk as Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs

January 22, 2009

To Tribal Leaders:

We were disappointed and surprised to read a recent statement by Scott Crowell criticizing Larry EchoHawk as a possible choice for the next Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs. Mr. Crowell formerly represented the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes on gaming matters but no longer represents the Tribes, and he does not speak for the Tribes. His statement contains a number of factual and legal misstatements that need to be corrected. To be clear, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes fully support Larry EchoHawk and have full confidence in his strong commitment to Tribal sovereignty and Indian interests, including economic development through gaming enterprises.

Larry began representing the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in 1977 and served for nearly nine years as the Tribes’ chief general legal counsel. At that time, he was one of the first ever Native American lawyers entrusted with the responsibility as the primary attorney for a large Indian tribe. He provided diligent and faithful service during these years. During his time as Tribal Attorney, he also served two terms in the Idaho legislature and worked hand-in-hand with Tribal leaders in Idaho to advance tribal interests. It was during his time in the legislature that positive laws respecting tribal sovereignty were passed for the first time in Idaho history, and Larry played a significant role in their passage. These laws include the State-Tribal Relations Act, the Tribal tobacco sales tax exemption, the Indian Antiquities and Burial Site Protection Act, and the amendment to the State Joint Powers Act to authorize state agencies to enter into agreements with Tribal governments, to name a few. Much of this was brought about due to Larry’s efforts to help create a State Indian Affairs Committee.

He ended his position as the Tribes’ general legal counsel in 1986 on good terms with the Tribes to become the prosecuting attorney for Bannock County, Idaho’s fourth largest county that borders the Fort Hall Reservation. While he served as prosecutor, he demonstrated a continual respect for tribal sovereignty and jurisdiction by deferring cases to the Tribes that could have been prosecuted under Public 280. In 1990 he was elected as Idaho’s Attorney General, and became the first Native American in United States history to be elected to a state-wide constitutional political office. As Attorney General, he supported legislation and efforts to protect native religious freedoms, salmon treaty fishing rights, and other legal matters impacting tribal sovereignty. While Attorney General, Larry also lead efforts to improve state-tribal relations through the Conference of Western Attorneys General.

In response to Mr. Crowell’s statement on Larry EchoHawk’s position relating to Indian gaming, the record should be clear that Larry EchoHawk supports the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and recognizes that it is the responsibility of the Assistant Secretary to faithfully execute the law. The EchoHawk law firm, which includes Larry’s sons Paul EchoHawk and Mark EchoHawk, has provided nearly ten years of legal services to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and continue to provide excellent legal services. They have worked on a number of important issues for the Tribes, including gaming matters. Specifically, Mark EchoHawk recently served for six months as the Interim Executive Director for the Fort Hall Casino. We are confident that Larry’s possible service as Assistant Secretary would be beneficial to Tribal interests, including the continued development of Indian gaming enterprises.

Mr. Crowell’s statement misstates the law and facts related to Larry EchoHawk’s role in the 1992 Idaho constitutional amendment. First, Crowell wrongly stated that Larry called the special legislative session. In fact, only the Governor has the authority to call a special legislative session in Idaho. Idaho Const. Art. IV, Sec. 9. The determination to call a special session in 1992 was made by the governor alone. Crowell’s statement also is misleading in that it suggests that Larry personally supported restricting Indian gaming or had a policy-making role in the matter. Both of these suggestions are false and misleading. The fact is that the state attorney general is the chief legal officer for the state and is charged with specific legal duties as directed by the Idaho law. See Idaho Code 67-1401. The law is clear that the state attorney general has the primary obligation to enforce state laws and cannot act as a litigant or exercise any broader power than that granted by the constitution and legislature. The attorney general is required to take an oath that they will “support the Constitution of the United States, and Constitution of the State of Idaho, and that [they] will faithfully discharge the duties of attorney general to the best of [their] ability.” This includes an obligation to perform all legal services for the state and to represent the state in all tribunals and provide unbiased legal advice to the legislature and governor when requested. The attorney general is not a lawmaker or a policy maker. Although Larry EchoHawk clearly has a long and proven track record of advancing tribal sovereignty, his legal and ethical duty as Idaho’s attorney general was to provide legal advice to the governor and legislature. He did this according to his oath of office, and he did not advocate against Indian gaming specifically at any time. Contrary to Mr. Crowell’s statement, Larry EchoHawk’s law firm has provided years of exceptional legal services to the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, including work to further advance the Tribes’ profitable gaming interests. It is simply unfair and disingenuous to suggest that performing his duty as attorney general shows a lack of commitment to Indian interests and tribal sovereignty in the face of Larry’s long and distinguished career working for Indian people.

In sum, we are proud to hear of Larry EchoHawk’s possible appointment as the next Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs. We are confident that he will do an outstanding job in continuing his efforts to advance Tribal sovereignty and economic self-sufficiency. We urge Tribal leaders to join us in supporting Larry for this important position for Indian Country.

Sincerely,

Alonzo Coby, Chairman

Fort Hall Business Council

Shoshone-Bannock Tribes

Source: Pechanga.net  http://216.109.157.86/press_re…

Good luck with that

At a summit meeting in Seoul, Prime Minister Taro Aso and South Korean president Lee Myung Bak vowed to “set aside their historical and territorial rows.”

Irish prime minister Brian Cowen and representatives of 70 Irish companies visited Tokyo on a trade mission, no doubt in response to the 18 percent drop in Japanese imports of goods from Ireland in 2008.

Local residents massed in protest after the Inagawa-kai crime syndicate set up its new headquarters in a building in Akasaka-about 250 meters from the HQ of a rival gang.

Japan’s Fair Trade Commission ordered ANA, JR East and three other companies to stop marketing a leather wallet as “Made in Japan” when in fact it was manufactured in China.

(Key to the Highway, Eric Clapton, 1991 courtesy of YouTuber rajiobaka)

In practicing solidarity, some strange things happen!

Well I am not even going to try to generalize because I can’t.

So I’ll do this first person singular.  It’s all about MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Hee.

I haven’t read Martin Luther King or Ghandi so I am pretty ignorant of the training involved to gain a state of mind where you know how to resist and how to yield.  How to confront violence with awareness and respond to it in a way that is not violent even when physical.

Physical violence.  That seems astonishing, the ability to stand there without choosing either fear or anger when someone is trying to physically harm you … I can hardly imagine that but I know this is a state of mind that can be attained because too many of my brothers and sisters have attained it and written about it and such.

But anyway, I am not near there, so I won’t write about confronting physical violence.  My typical response to physical violence is as a graduate of the Three Stooges School of Self-Defense and not very practical in large groups!

I’ll speak to a far more shallow aspect that millions of Americans have been experiencing for a long time now, arguments, in conversation with friends, family, etc., that have been aggressive in a very hurtful way — if you get hurt it hurts and if you are the hurter, that hurts, too!

Meh.

 

 



^{by ninjapoodles}

 

 



Hey Hey – Eric Clapton

 

 



^{by me’nthedogs’}

 

 



Hey Hey My My – Neil Young

Casey Research, of Vermont, has analyzed the costs of the government bailouts of the housing crisis, the credit crisis and others and has concluded that the total is $8.5 trillion, which is more than the cost of all US wars, the Louisiana Purchase, the New Deal, the Marshall Plan and the NASA Space Program combined. According to CRS, the Congressional Research Service, all major US wars (including such events as the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan, the invasion of Panama, the Kosovo War and numerous other small conflicts), cost a total of $7.5 trillion in inflation-adjusted 2008 dollars.

http://www.rockcreekfreepress….

hat tip to Ilargi.

http://theautomaticearth.blogs…

Smell that fresh air? A new breeze is blowing.

Ever since the Wagner Act legalizing unionization passed 74 years ago, right wingers have been trying to gut it. Corporations at first ignored it altogether until forced by the Supreme Court to surrender their opposition. With a post-Roosevelt Republican majority embedded in Congress, the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 was the first official move to make unionization tougher.

There have been a few bright moments in the decades since then, as when occupational safety and health laws were passed in the 1970s. But mostly, whether it was The Great Communicator delivering a nose-thumbing message to striking air traffic controllers, George Bush issuing executive orders favoring employers over workers, sophisticated covert union-busting efforts devised by well-paid professionals, or relentless Chamber of Commerce-promoted propaganda, the labor movement in the United States has been under constant attack.

Over the years, these attacks – together with the changing demographics of the workplace and, ironically, the movement into the middle class of more and more Americans that union activity made possible – have greatly weakened unions. Only 8% of private sector workers are now unionized. One effect of this lack of clout was made clear during the Cheney-Bush years when the Department of Labor that is supposed to protect workers shrugged off its duty. In fact, in 2006, the average penalty assessed employers for violations that “pose a substantial probability of death or serious physical harm” was $881.

1. The Washington Post reports U.S. economy falls at 3.8 percent rate at year’s end. In the steepest quarterly drop in the GDP since 1982, “new data from the Commerce Department released this morning show the U.S. economy shrank at a 3.8 percent seasonally adjusted annual rate from October through December, compared with the previous three months. The number is an initial estimate that might change as more information is collected.”

   The NY Times adds Steep slide in the U.S. Economy as unsold goods pile up. “American consumers, who took on home equity loans and large amounts of credit card debt to finance their lifestyles earlier in the decade, curtailed their spending for a second consecutive quarter. Consumer spending, which typically accounts for two-thirds of economic growth, fell 3.5 percent in the quarter, after decreasing 3.8 percent in the third quarter.” Maybe this is the beginning of the end of the consumer culture?

2. Meanwhile, Bloomberg notest that Exxon and Chevron Top analyst earnings estimates. “Chevron’s refining earnings jumped 10-fold to $2.08 billion. Exxon Mobil had a gain of more than 6 percent to $2.41 billion as profit margins in overseas markets widened.”

   The NY Times underscores Exxon posts record 2008 profit despite slip in 4th quarter. Big oil isn’t hurting.

3. In what may be a ‘too little, too late’ move, the Washington Post reports Vice President Biden to helm a task force on the Middle Class. “Biden announced that his chief economic adviser, Jared Bernstein, will be the executive director of the task force — a welcome announcement to more liberal economists and the labor movement, who regard Bernstein as one of their greatest allies within the administration. The task force also has its own web site — astrongmiddleclass.gov — that will not only post information but also solicit ideas, Biden said.”

   Great! Let us eat website! Meanwhile, Bloomberg reports Richest Americans’ income doubled under Bush tax cuts. 2006 marked the lowest tax rate for the richest 400 people living in the United States and “their average income doubled to $263.3 million… In all, the 400 wealthiest Americans reported a combined $105.3 billion of adjusted gross income in 2006, the most recent year for which the IRS has data.” (Hat tip bubbanomics )

4. The LA Times reports U.S. DEA presence ends in Bolivia. “The last U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents left Bolivia on Thursday after having been ordered out by President Evo Morales… The departure in recent weeks of three dozen agents ends the DEA’s presence here after more than three decades. Senior law enforcement officials said it was the first time a DEA operation had been ordered out of a country en masse.”

Ok, so I have been trying to write a mighty essay called something like….Portrait of a Criminal Administration. Something that truly spells out in the most shocking and impact full way possible just exactly how bad/criminal/rogue the Bush Administration was.

Should be pretty easy right?

But I just haven’t had the energy or concentration (going through a little relapse) to do the research and pull it together. Then it finally penetrated my thick head that this would be the perfect collaborative, epic piece….but I had just been asking for help in the wrong way. So…here is a different way!

Pick your favorite Bush crime and write about it. A couple of paragraphs or a full essay or even just a couple of sentences! Especially if you can tackle one of the lesser known crimes….other than the big three, Illegal Invasion of Iraq, Torture, and the Plame treason….but if you have something to say about those, let it out! Reworjing or just re-pub’ing something from your archives is perfectly acceptable, and much appreciated.

If you do want to contribute, just remember to put “Portrait of a Criminal Administration” in the tags. Then we can comb through and assemble something magnificent by editing all of them together or pub’ing them as a series. Either in timeline form, or a greatest hits kind of deal. An epic essay or a series we can put up to coincide/directly follow Holder’s confirmation. (Which looks like Monday, but who knows what those wily Repubs will pull next!)

What do y’all think?

Can we ever give them the real justice they deserve?

That of us bringing to accountability those who, like the dictator of their country we once supported, no questions asked,  gave the orders {on fixed intelligence} to destroy, kill, and torture their family members and fellow countrypersons!

Or will we once again bury our guilt in our apathy and arrogance and watch as others, hopefully, take that Moral Leadership?