In New York (and probably every other state), the native populations were forced onto tiny slivers of their own land. On the bright side, these lands are considered sovereign nations (and, as we all know from George W. Bush, sovereign means they have sovereignty). Among other things, these nations aren’t required to collect the $2.75 per pack NY State cigarette tax. Well, except for a law that was passed quite a while ago that said non-Native people were required to pay the tax, but nobody’s really ever tried to collect it. Except for George Pataki, that is. He tried in 1997, which led to protesters shutting down the New York State Thruway, setting fires, and duking it out with State Troopers. Pataki then retaliated by blockading the reservations, but he eventually caved in, and that was that. Since then NY’s tribes have sold something like 300 million packs a year, and are now getting into the manufacturing process. Times being what they are, with NY trying to close a huge budget gap, Governor Blinky is once again looking at trying to get his hands on all those potential tax dollars (which would be over $800 million a year, which aint chump change).

The Governor has sent a letter to US Attorneys, asking them to assess the potential for “violence and civil unrest” if NY once again tries to collect tax revenue. I reckon there’s quite a bit of potential there, personally. Or, as Richard Nephew, chairman of the governing council of the Seneca Nation – NY’s biggest tribal seller of cigarettes – puts it:

“We see the letter as nothing more than the Governor doing his job to assess the historic consequences of what happens when the state tries to violate our treaty rights.”

Indeed.

Looks like Nancy Pelosi will soon announce the House version of Health Care reform – including a “public option” tied to medicare rates + 5%. A preliminary CBO report says the plan is revenue neutral, will cover 96% or Americans, and will require $900 billion of new spending over ten years. If you’re keeping score, that’s only slightly more than Max Baucus’ bill w/o a public option that will cover less people. Hopefully this will meet with President Snowe’s approval.

Oh well, time to get it on.