Guest columnist
You'd be a fool to gamble on Eyman's latest scheme

By Floyd J. McKay
Special to The Times

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To natives of the Pacific Northwest in the 19th century, whites brought smallpox, venereal disease and alcohol.

In the 20th century, whites brought laws that seldom benefited the surviving natives.

The 21st century has produced Tim Eyman.

The Great Opportunist has created a three-card monte that combines anti-tax sentiments, anti-tribal resentments and gambling. Eyman may be an opportunist, but he's not dumb.

Financed by professional gambling money, Eyman hires bounty hunters to pass petitions for a fee. He is pocketing for himself over $3,000 a week.

Taxes are too high, says Eyman. Taxes are always, by definition, too high. Native Americans should not have a monopoly on casino-style gambling; treat them the same as everyone, says Eyman. We are all for equality, of course. People must have an opportunity to play slot machines at bowling alleys, pubs and nearly everywhere else, says Eyman. We all want choice, the handier the better.

So we have Initiative 892, the latest Eyman scheme to line his own pockets while shoving more of the burden of public services onto those least able to pay the cost.

Who will play the slots? Studies show a wide variety of people gamble; it seems to be a universal human need.

But there are gamblers who can afford to be fleeced, and there are gamblers who cannot afford to be fleeced. Folks with salaries in six figures (before the decimal point) can drop a few bucks. Folks with salaries in six figures (including the decimal point) are using the kids' milk money in an almost-sure bet to get stiffed once again.

Washingtonians gamble; one survey shows over 90 percent have gambled at one time or another. But there's a huge gap between a World Series pool and casino-style slots featured in I-892.

Gambling brings in about $2 billion a year for non-tribal enterprises, including nonprofit social programs as well as taverns, mini-casinos and bingo parlors. But I-892 is not about gambling, really, for we already have gambling on every street corner.

The initiative is really about how we pay for vital public services and whether we once again renege on an agreement with Native Americans.

Public services — in this case, education — were once considered an obligation of citizenship. We pay for what we value, and in olden times we paid (roughly) on the basis of ability to pay. Folks who had more paid more; that was the idea of the property tax and income tax — if not Washington's sales tax.

Under I-892, a 35 percent tax on gambling profits would reduce the state property tax for schools. So instead of paying $100 in property taxes, you can have your neighbor lose it at the local tavern or bingo hall. Such a deal! So much for the charming old concept that education benefits all and should be equally shared. Instead, put the burden on some sucker trying to get a life by hitting the slots.

Voters tempted to sign Eyman's petition also should consider what it says about our relationships with Native Americans.

We granted gambling to the tribes after plenty of political and economic debates, also recognizing the particular legal standing of tribal governments.

But at least one reason many people reluctantly agreed to granting gambling rights to the tribes was that it provided economic hope to communities that have lost traditional natural-resource-based jobs and also suffer from alcoholism, poverty and discrimination.

The advance of gambling on reservations also began a 30-year escalation of gambling in the state, as non-tribal organizations got into the act and in turn forced the tribes to ratchet up their games. Competition has led to the every-street-corner gambling of today.

But there has always been at least implied agreement that the tribes should have top cut at the most-lucrative gaming. In turn, gaming money has allowed many of the tribes to deal with their most pressing economic, educational and social needs. I-892 threatens these services, and it threatens to once again reveal the now-you-have-it, now-you-don't nature of our promises to native communities.

It is, perhaps, human nature to be captivated by the idea of getting something for nothing; it would always be nice to have someone else pay our obligations.

But there truly is no such thing as a free lunch, even at the slot machine. With I-892 we will be stealing the lunch of the tribes, not an entirely new experience for them.

Floyd J. McKay, a journalism professor emeritus at Western Washington University, is a regular contributor to Times editorial pages. E-mail him at floydmckay@yahoo.com