Wonder of wonders, the Speaker of the House Michael Busch has changed
his stance somewhat on allowing slots in Maryland, saying that "he is openly
considering while it might make sense, after all, for the state to jump into the
gambling business." But that's still a far cry from turning his words into action. And his opposition to Senate President Mike Miller's desire for the General Assembly to reconvene this fall to "hammer out revised legislation on slot machines" doesn't bode well for a speedy resolution of the debate.

And while the legislature continues lollygagging, it's conceivable that a Maryland Indian tribe might pull the rug right from under them by opening a
casino of their own. What a shock that'd be for the state and track owners.

No, I'm not referring to the Chickasaw, Choctaw, Chippawa or Chatanook tribes, but to the Piscataway- Conoy Indians of Southern Maryland. At last year's session, Gov. Parris Glendening signed the bill giving that tribe of 2,000
official state recognition, which can make it easier for that group to get the federal government's blessing.

They insist they sought such recognition for the sole purpose of obtaining education, health and housing benefits (as well as restoring their honor and pride). But many people believe they're speaking with forked tongue, and that their primary interest in seeking recognition is for one thing: gambling.

If that is their true intent, I can't say I blame 'em for wanting to go after the same "pot of gold" that countless other American Indian tribes found by establishing casinos on their land.

There's no better example of that than of the jackpot the Mashantucket
Pequot Tribal Nation hit. After spending a dozen years repopulating a nearly
abandoned Indian reservation, today they're awash in cash from the vast Foxwood casino: the biggest casino in the Western Hemisphere, housing 5500 slot machines and averaging 55,000 visitors a day and making more than $1 million a day (even on slow periods). It provides free housing and college tuition for all, and is Connecticut's largest individual source of revenue, with the state
getting 25 percent of the take. And to top it off, they provide high-rollers from New York City with free passage on America's fastest ferryboats.

But there may not be as many New Yorkers skimming across the waves at
54 miles per hour now that the Seneca Nation's Niagara Casino has opened.
It is envisioned as the first of three Seneca casinos in western New York, and
the beginning of a proliferation of gambling venues across the state, including up to six new American Indian facilities and eight racetracks offering slot machines. And the state's cut will be 25 percent of the money dropped into
all the slots, the same as they now get from the casino on the Oneida Indian
Nation's reservation in central New York.

Closer to home in Pennsylvania, the legislature, at Gov. Ed Rendell urging, has legalized as many as 3,000 slots at as many as eight racetracks, which it is estimated would eventually generate for the state more than $800 million a year, based on a 35 percent tax on the tracks' revenue. (Philadelphia Park and the Penn National Race Course will be the first ones out of the starting gate.)

Poor Maryland, we stand to be nearly completely encircled by states with slots and balanced budgets, and siphoning off billions of dollars from Maryland each year, as well as inflicting further damage on our racing industry.

Now I know how desperate the early pioneers must've felt when their covered wagons were surrounded by hostile Indians.

I've often thought it's regrettable that the Indian tribes that once inhabited the region now covered by Carroll County were driven out. Had only one of them stayed here-the Delaware Indians (who once lived in the southern part of the county), the Shawnees (whose villages were in an area around Big Pipe Creek), or the Susquehannocks (who was the primary tribe in the region)- Carroll could've become the most prosperous county in the state, provided that tribe gained recognition from the state and then opened up a casino. If we hadn't treated 'em so cruelly, that pipe dream of mine might of come true.