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Gov. Walker Rejects Kenosha Casino

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Governor Scott Walker said he was protecting Wisconsin taxpayers -- not his national political standing -- when he rejected the 800-million dollar Kenosha casino.  Walker announced his long-awaited decision Friday,  just one day before he's scheduled to appear with other possible G-O-P White House candidates in Iowa.  The gathering comes about a year before next January's Iowa presidential caucuses. 

The conservative National Review says some political activists believe Walker would take "real risks of leaks in his Iowa coalition if he either approves expanded gambling," or does not act on a right-to-work law for Wisconsin.  The governor told reporters in Milwaukee that the timing of his casino announcement was not related to his appearance at the Iowa Freedom Summit in Des Moines.  Walker said the state might have had to pay the Forest County Potawatomi Community hundreds of millions of dollars to make up its lost revenues due to the Menominee's Kenosha casino.  He also said the state might have to had to repay the Potawatomi for its previous payments to Madison under its gaming compact. Democrats were livid, saying Walker put White House ambitions over the prospect of 10-thousand new jobs and millions of gambling tourists at Kenosha.

The Menominee  tribe offered to put up a bond of 200-to-250 million dollars, to make sure no other tribes lost money from the Kenosha casino..  The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said the Menominee wanted to make sure that taxpayers would not be on the hook if the Potawatomi or Ho-Chunk tribes lost gaming revenues to Kenosha.  However, the Republican Walker cited the possibility of hundreds of millions of tax dollars going to the Potawatomi not only to make up for losses from a Kenosha casino, but for refunds of past payments the Potawatomi made to the state.  Walker told reporters in Milwaukee today he tried working out a deal that would have accommodated both the current Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee and the Menominee Kenosha project.  But he couldn't strike an agreement -- and Walker said the blame goes to former Democratic Governor Jim Doyle for approving the Potawatomi gaming compact which included the state's potential payments.  In Walker's words, "Had Governor Doyle not put in place this compact, we would be having a much different conversation.  This wasn't just an arbitrary decision we could make."

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