"Frederick J. Moore III, the Passamaquoddy tribal representative to the Legislature, had a pointed question for his fellow lawmakers and for Maine voters in general last week.

How, he asked, can we authorize a slot machine operation for a racetrack in Bangor and yet prohibit a similar enterprise for the state's Indian tribes?

He was referring to bills coming up at the State House to allow Maine's two largest tribes to set up slot-machine gambling operations on their reservations or even establish a racino - a combination racetrack and slots casino - somewhere in Washington County, most likely Calais.

The question is both pertinent and difficult to respond to, considering that in November 2003 voters simultaneously authorized the installation of hundreds of slot machines at the Bangor Raceway but flatly rejected construction of a gigantic Indian casino in southern Maine."

Get the Story:
Jim Brunelle: If a racetrack can have slot machines, why can't Indian tribes? (The Portland Press Herald 4/11)