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Sequestration: Why Are Special Interest Programs Getting Funding, But the Crucial Indian Health Service Faces Major Cuts?

Mar. 21, 2013 11:28am Becket Adams

Sequestration: Special Interest Programs Find Funding, But Not the Indian Health Service

The Associated Press.

When it comes to the automatic budget cuts that began taking effect this month, federal lawmakers were able to find a way to spare certain special interest programs — such as $227K program to study pictures of animals in National Geographic magazines, paying people $46K to attend an annual snowmobile competition in Michigan, and $350K for a study that looks at the “effects of meditation and self-reflection,” all of which were awarded grants at the beginning of March — from sequestration.

That wasn’t the case with programs for American Indian reservations, where unemployment is far above the national average, women suffer disproportionately from sexual assaults, and school districts largely lack a tax base to make up for the cuts.

The federal Indian Health Service, which serves 2.1 million tribal members, says it would be forced to slash its number of patient visits by more than 800,000 per year. Tribal programs under the U.S. Department of Interior and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs that fund human services, law enforcement, schools, economic development and natural resources stand to lose almost $130 million under the cuts, according to the National Congress of American Indians.

While food distribution, welfare programs and health care services that serve the needy are exempt from the cuts, similar services on reservations aren’t, said Amber Ebarb, a budget and policy analyst for the National Congress of American Indians.

“Tribes have too little political clout, too small numbers for those same protections to be applied,” she said. “I don’t think it’s the intent of any member of Congress. The ones we hear from, Republicans and Democrats who understand trust and treaty rights, think it’s outrageous that tribes are subject to these across-the-board cuts.”

The timing and magnitude of most of the cuts are uncertain as Congress looks for a way to keep the government operating beyond March 27 with no budget in place. In the meantime, tribes across the country are preparing for the worst.

Some are better-positioned than others.

In northwestern New Mexico’s McKinley County, where about a third of the population lives below the federal poverty level, the Gallup-McKinley County School District is facing a $2 million hit. The district that draws mostly Navajo students from reservation land not subject to state property taxes relies heavily on federal funding to pay its teachers and provide textbooks to students.

AFP/Getty Images.

“To me, it seems very unfair that one of the poorest counties with one of highest Native enrollment in the country has to be impacted the most by sequestration,” said district superintendent Ray Arsenault. “We are very poor, we’re very rural, and it’s going to hurt us much more.”

On the Rosebud Indian Reservation in south-central South Dakota, a new $25 million, 67,500-square foot jail sits empty. The annual operating budget of $5 million would be reduced to around $840,000 because of the automatic budget cuts, said jail administrator Melissa Eagle Bear.

“I don’t think this is intentional, but I do feel like it’s the government’s way of controlling things,” she said. “They definitely have control, and we’re going to keep going. … I know Indian people. We tend to survive off what resources we have.”

In Oklahoma, the Cherokee Nation said it is well-poised to handle cuts to its diabetes, housing rehabilitation, Head Start and health care programs. The tribe put a freeze on nonessential hires and halted most travel and training for tribal employees. The tribe’s $600 million budget for services and programs comes largely from federal funds, but tribal businesses also post annual revenues in the same amount that have been used to fill in gaps, said Principal Chief Bill John Baker.

Associated Press.

“What this really is going to boil down to mean is that there won’t be any new purchases, new equipment, and probably we’ll hold our programs but not be in a position to add new programs,” Baker said. “Luckily, we’re in pretty good shape.”

Baker and other tribal leaders have argued against the cuts, saying the federal government has a responsibility that dates back to the signing of treaties to protect American Indian people, their land and tribal sovereignty.

Clara Pratte, director of the Navajo Nation’s Washington, D.C., office, said regardless of the outcome of the budget talks, tribal leaders should press Congress to make funding for Indian programs mandatory, not discretionary.

Nearly two-thirds of the Navajo Nation’s $456 million budget comes from federal sources that go to public safety, education, and health and human services. The tribe is facing up to $30 million in automatic budget cuts.

“A lot of these programs go to people that cannot lift themselves up by their bootstraps,” Pratte said. “I’m talking about grandmas, grandpas, kids under the age of 10. We can’t very well expect them to go to work.”

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Comments (70)

thegreatcarnac
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:59pm
Obama is a hateful POS. He is punishing the average Americans and the Indians and the poor in a lame attemp to show us. He wants people to suffer so they can say,..”those Republicans were wrong”. He is a fool. Eighty percent of the people were against him in this ‘sequestering’ incident (although the msm says different) and all he is doing is angering them more. There is so much FAT in the federal government, he could go about this process with little discomfort.

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- turkey13
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 2:55pm
  Obama could care less about just 2.1 million Indians – even if they all voted and voted Democratic it would not affect a race. If he can kill them off the government will get their land and all those casinos. In the Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill members of Congress inserted their regular PORK. It included $150 million to Alaskian fisheries – $2 million for th Smithsonian – $8 million for new cars for Homeland Security – $58.8 million for forest restoration – $ 10 Billion for future public transportation projects and $17 Billion for Community Developement Block Grants.
  
  Report this comment
- old construction worker
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 3:45pm
  Gray Eagle: $130 million in cuts / $18 million per round of golf = 7.2 rounds. Who do you think Obama really cares about.
  
  Report this comment
- loriann12
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 7:55pm
  He wants anyone who has “native American” heritage to be outraged, he wants to show just how much it will hurt (like you said) the average American. It surely won’t hurt his rich donors.
  
  Report this comment
DSN397
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:54pm
What not take the health care away, we’ve been taking stuff from them since 1492, they should be used to the white eyes lies.

We’ve never signed a treaty with the Indians (any tribe) that we didn’t break. Doesn’t make us look too good.

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- Grey Eagle
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 2:20pm
  You are right. I am Native American and my family was on the “Trail of Tears”. Obama and the Democrats are beyond the pale.
  
  Report this comment
- HAWKWIND
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 4:13pm
  DSN397 – I agree 100%. If there’s one minority we owe reparations to, it’s the Native Americans, in my humble opinion.
  
  Report this comment
- STREBOR
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 7:34pm
  It’s the continuing policy of genocide by our Feral Government.
  
  Report this comment
- Old Truckers
  Posted on March 22, 2013 at 1:10pm
  Why do the American Indians insist on maintaining their sequestered lifestyle on the reservations?
  This is 2013, time to integrate into the mainstream and get off the reservation and quit living in the past. Get off the taxpayers dole and get a life!
  
  This is my opinion and it is not to insult but to encourage.
  
  Report this comment
Newone
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:47pm
Both Parties of Congress and Senate ”are incapable of passing anything until they get, “” Permission from Special Interests like Big D.C. K Street Lobbies and Big Contractors first ””.

“”Need term Limits””

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jungle J
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:40pm
I am sick and tired of all minorities that use their status to steal from me.

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- Livia
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 6:08pm
  JungleJ, did you get tired of the Indiaqns being mistreated by your ancestors? Did any of the rest of you that want to gripe about this stop to think that if the government had not LIED to and raped the Indians of the land they lived on, they MIGHT not need the help they are asking for? Do any of you speakind evil of the Indians also speak the same of the illegal criminal aliens that flood this country and take benefits they are NOT entitled to? I doubt it. This with taking from the Indians and denying them the right to live their own way stinks to high heaven and needs to be stopped NOW!
  
  Keep the money sent to Egypt and all the other countries that want to see us dead. Use it here in this country where it is needed, and stop giving this country away. But first of all, STOP taking from the Indians!
  
  Report this comment
SGT Rock
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:32pm
My Native friends and relatives all bemoan the Indian nations medical services, we joke you only have the first 6 months of the year to get sick after that there is no money. It is how Obamacare will be. Just imagine if Obamacare was part of the sequestration, how many who wanted it would still understand it as control of health care. A lot of poor folks are finding out they have to pay around $500 a head so a familey of 4 will pay $2000 a year, they all cry out, “It was suppose to be free” I answer by saying, “You should always read things before signing them”. Time will reveal all.

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katzkiner
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:28pm
If they go on the warpath against DC they’ll have a lot of help this time.

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- naughtycal
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:51pm
  You might be right.
  My question is where that communie pr*ck van jones attack the Obama camp talking about give the Indians the wealth.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu63VWh8Pdg
  I guess he’s supports the wealthy Obama political punishment cuts more than his”native American” brothers and sisters
  
  Report this comment
Gonzo
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:24pm
I didn’t realize the Indians have had socialized medicine all along. I guess that’s a pretty good example of how socialism ‘helps’ a nation.

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- pragmaticpatriot
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:47pm
  Many tribes are living on scraps and promises. Some like the Oklahoma Cherokee are doing ok, the western tribes are still living like animals by little fault of their own. Westernizing them wont happen and they lost their old ways.
  
  Report this comment
- The-Monk
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:53pm
  It sure is Gonzo….
  
  It also shows that something else is going on behind the curtains. How does a 2% cut in planned funding increases decrease the amount of funds already allocated and not a part of sequestration.
  
  Report this comment
- Bonnieblue2A
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 2:06pm
  Reservations are by their very nature a socialist camp. Even though tribes are sovereign nations the BIA limits what they can do on and with reservation land. It is very difficult, unless they can break out like the Seminoles and pursue capitalist ventures, to improve life on the “res”.
  
  Report this comment
- TEIN
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 3:40pm
  I don’t know if all tribes grabbed the government cash when it was offered around Pres. FDR time, but yes it is how socialist/commie ideology plays out….if the government runs out of something, it is not the elite and the elite politician that suffer, it is everyone else……I am surprised that someone in the MSM hasn’t said “let them eat cake”….
  
  Report this comment
EQUALIZER
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:24pm
Its all about Obama’s plan to divide Americans until we are all at each others throats. Then he wins with full control. Wake up to this dictator’s evil ways.

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eat-more-bacon-USA
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:17pm
How about ELIMINATING ALL WELFARE programs … to Indian tribes, and all Americans?

WELFARE = SLAVERY … It is time to END SLAVERY once and for all!

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- hi
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:44pm
  I totally agree. Government programs make things worse.
  
  Report this comment
- Bonnieblue2A
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 2:07pm
  Reservations are slavery. Get a clue.
  
  Report this comment
HappyCowboysWife
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:12pm
P.S. My husband is losing 20% of his income due to sequestration! I don’t mind tightening my belt if it meant ANYTHING! If we weren’t still giving money away left and right!

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HappyCowboysWife
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:10pm
If we were not sending so much money across the ocean…to pay for whatever, where ever…we would be able to take care of things at home. Whatever our crisis may be…our money shouldn’t be given away for ANYTHING if we are not out of debt outselves! I feel so helpless to effect any kind of change!!! Totally frustrated!

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Libertyluvnmomma
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:07pm
Rosebud was over 20 years outdated in 1975.
Rosebud is the Detroit version of the medical system.
These reservations are somewhat voluntary concentration camps. and native criminal asylum zones.
Sad.
The solutions are difficult due to the fact that everything about the native America has been utterly defeated. Their marriages, child rearing, their traditions and religion. Their very backbone has been stood on by the American Government.
who’s next?

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WilliamORights
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:05pm
GOLD: They can’t tax it, print it, or earn it. But they will try to steal it from you.

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- Bonnieblue2A
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 2:09pm
  Not true. If you buy non-US gold denominations, say a Canadian Maple Leaf, you will be taxed if/when you go to sell it. The tax in buying American Eagles is upfront in the price at the time of purchase. When you die and the gold is part of your estate, government takes 50%.
  
  Report this comment
HornsFan96
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:01pm
And when will we expect American Indians to stand on their own two feet??

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- Libertyluvnmomma
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:18pm
  They can’t. This is exactly why those fascist liberals were so eager to develop a welfare state It cripples society until it collapses.
  They give them everything but without purpose, they ply their God given initiative with drugs, alcohol, food, and every kind of sex under the sun, until they and their children and then their children are destroyed.
  “get on their own two feet”………………………..that is naive’.
  
  Report this comment
woodyee
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:59am
2.1 million members, and nearly half of them (800,000) visit the doctor every year? Sounds more like they should be removed from wherever they’re living, and that the place oughta be sanitized, before they’re allowed to move back!

They can always opt for what Californian Indians have done, which has made many of their tribal members VERY wealthy – throw away all their desires for custom and tradition, and open up gambling casinos. Wealthy California Indians and the wealthy elected politicians that support them oughta know…

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TORCH9
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:55am
As to all of the arguments of whom We The People should be the most sympathetic, i.e. – Black Guilt, -Mexican Border Jumpers, the American Indian is at the top of the list IMHO. This was truely their native land.

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- 9KRPMS2K
  Posted on March 22, 2013 at 3:53am
  smh…you’re aware that Mexicans are also Indians right? Native Americans equals all Natives to the Americas…so your reasoning is off. Anyway, this is still effed up.
  
  Report this comment
hi
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:55am
It seems to me that there is great untaxed wealth on reservations from casinos. The fact that we gave them land and tax-free income makes me wonder why we are responsible for their healthcare also.
I actually volunteered for Indian Health Services. There is absolutely no appreciation whatsoever from the folks. They all hate whitey. I am not exaggerating.
The government should just be here to protect our freedom and stop trying to take care of everyone. You think you are helping , but what I see is drunk native American’s sleeping behind Safeway. Free stuff is a bad thing. Work and taking care of oneself is good.

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- Abigail Adams
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:18pm
  Not every tribe is the same. It’s unfair to judge an entire people by an experience with one group. And not every tribe has casinos.
  We give millions to Egypt and deny American Indians assistance that was promised them? They are our own people. We can certainly figure out ways to help them become self-reliant but this is not the way to do it. This is cruel.
  
  Report this comment
- katzkiner
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:24pm
  Who doesn’t hate Whitey? Whitey hates Whitey.
  
  Report this comment
- ABRAXUS
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:28pm
  how do you figure that we gave them land-we killed 85% of the population and stole 98% of their land
  
  Report this comment
- hi
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:43pm
  The way I help now is by donating money to a missionary family that works with a tribe and teaches them about Christ.
  People do not need the government to help them. Look at welfare recipients who get pregnant intentionally over and over in order to get more free stuff.Their kids become gang members.
  
  People need Christ. Then they can get on their feet. Missionaries don’t just teach about Christ, but they teach skills for self sufficiency.
  
  Report this comment
- hi
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:48pm
  abraxas
  why are you blaming me and holding me responsible for something that happened centuries ago? I supposed you want my great, great, great, great, great, great grandkids to keep paying indefinitely? How about you go to jail because one of your relatives hundreds of years ago murdered my relative?
  
  Report this comment
- thegreatcarnac
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:54pm
  Katzin—-Whites are divided by liberal whites vs. White people. Whites are gelling. Watch out…we will come back soon.
  
  Report this comment
- Bonnieblue2A
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 2:13pm
  And exactly how does the reservation system enable those living on the “res” to help themselves and to enter gainful employment? Nothing worse than government healthcare, government schools, and living on land the government owns: all part of being on a reservation.
  
  Why should anyone stuck with Indian Health Services be grateful? It is sh*tty healthcare! I can assure you when Obamacare forces me onto government healthcare I will NOT be grateful.
  
  Report this comment
kaydeebeau
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:54am
Only in DC does “only” increasing current spending by 5% instead of 7% constitute cutting……

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Bonnieblue2A
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:52am
Perhaps the next time Mercury One is looking for a place to do good as it did with the family of slain Navy Seal Chris Kyle, it could choose to help the Indian Reservations in South Dakota.

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- Abigail Adams
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:12pm
  I guess you missed the giant food trucks from Mercury One, delivering food to the needy. Beck talked about some of them going to one of the poorest Reservations to feed their hungry. Beck even met with their leaders. I can’t remember if it was the Navajo nation or another, but Mercury One has helped them.
  
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- Bonnieblue2A
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 2:17pm
  @ abigail adams, no I did not miss it. That is why I suggested the reservations of South Dakota. They need help. Really, you should stop ASSuming what you think you know about others.
  
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Bonnieblue2A
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:44am
The already hurting Indian Health Services is cut so Obama can play golf, take lavish vacations, and entertain $500K donors in the WH (while Dems keep it closed to the public).

Why does Obama use those stuck on the government plantation and reservations as his pawns? Why does Obama hate Native Americans? Does he just want them to die quickly?

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Zipit
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:39am
Not to worry! It’s merely a glimpse into the future of everyone’s government run healthcare here in the land of the free, and home of the brave! Pun intended!!!

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Cavallo
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:39am
Remember that it is the Administration’s stated goal to hurt people as much as they can with these sequesters. These aren’t even real cuts, just punishment tactics to get the people to agree to allow the government to rape them of their hard earned resources.

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- starman70
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 12:08pm
  If you watched The Hannity Show on Fox Network last night, you will remember the 300,000 dollar plus grant to study the genetalia of WATERFOWL or the wine tour at $600,000+ we are paying for. That’s the ones which stuck in my mind the most, but there were other inane, stupid and un necessary government grants being funded everyday. F-15 airplanes, 400 Abram tanks and $1.5 million in foreign aid to Egypt, whose president calls Israelis the children of pigs and dogs and whose Moslem Brotherhood is fully engaged in plots to conquor the whole world and convert it to Islam. Supplying arms to Syria and Lybia when we know full well that the same arms will be used against us when possible. We seem to have the most ignorant bunch of AZZES running our government. The largest collection of lunatics ever having been put in charge of the asylum. And the best (Or worse) part is that we the taxpayers have the dubious “Priviledge” of funding it.
  
  VOTERS OF AMERICA!!!! Wake up!! it’s our fault!! We keep re-electing the same idiots to the Senate and the House OVER AND OVER AGAIN!!!!
  
  We the people can stop it!
  
  Report this comment
Obama Snake Oil Co
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:37am
Why does Obama need 1.6 billion bullets? Does he know about the sequestration?
http://www.wnd.com/2013/03/why-does-obama-need-1-6-billion-bullets/

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- The_Jerk
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:42am
  We shouldn’t be paying for Indian healthcare anyway.
  
  Report this comment
- Zipit
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:43am
  Re-linking SNAKE……. http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5IhlNK3hEeE&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded%26v%3D5IhlNK3hEeE
  
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- Zipit
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:46am
  Wow! For the JERK to reply makes me think that these native Americans are really JEWS!
  
  Report this comment
AmericanStrega
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:35am
While I can feel sad for “Native Americans”…..Don’t most tribes have casinos that rake in loads of money? Can they not fund their own people’s needs?

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- Bonnieblue2A
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:50am
  No, not all. Some tribes have been able to successfully buck the Socialist reservation models of our federal government; others have not. See the South Dakota reservations if you need to see what government induced poverty looks like. Between the constraints placed upon them by the federal government and the corrupt tribal leaders the only chance people have is to get off the reservation. Easier said than done. Rampant alcohol abuse, gangs/drugs/violence, insufficient school models, etc…. A female residing on a reservation has better than a one in three chance of being raped.
  
  Report this comment
- Just_Us2
  Posted on March 21, 2013 at 1:55pm
  Don’t most tribes have casinos that rake in loads of money? The answer to this is a resounding NO. Some of the poorest people in this country are Native Americans. The US is split in to twelve different areas and each area serves its native populations. Alaska, yes Eskimos are natives, are the poorest. They still use dial up internet at the clinics. The lands that the tribes were given were the most undesirable land at the time so given the resources at the tribe’s disposal, they are limited as far as being autonomous.
  The process of how IHS gets its money is broken, I agree, but it is a process that the US Govt came up with and IHS was told it had to live by. Think of indian tribes as Detroit times 1,000 where these people live in shacks with no running water, little education, housing that would be condemned except it is on a reservation. Withdraw funding and you will have a flood of refugees coming on medicaid, food stamps, section 8 housing, etc. The de-funding will not solve any problems…it will only shift the burden from one agency to another. Just like in any socialistic society you have a few very rich people and a butt load of poor.
  Look at the Native American population and you see what socialism does as well as socialized medicine. It is NOT where you want the rest of the population to go. But it is reality for some and withdrawing the money here means it will just get spent elsewhere.
  
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EQUALIZER
Posted on March 21, 2013 at 11:35am
Maybe its because there is a new Indian Casino on every corner, at least in California.

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