Beloit Casino follies

The long-discussed Beloit Casino proposed by the Ho-Chunk Nation is in the news again.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs - will someone tell me why this agency still exists? - is "preparing information for an Environmental Impact Statement".

According to a release from the BIA, the areas of analysis in the EIS include, “land resources, water resources, air quality, noise, biological resources, cultural resources, resource use patterns, traffic and transportation, public health and environmental hazards, public services and utilities, socioeconomics, environmental justice and visual resources/aesthetics.”

What the blue blazes does "socioeconomics, environmental justice and visual resources/aesthetics” have to do with whether or not a casino gets built? WTF is "environmental justice" anyway? What are "cultural resources"? Are they mined, or grown? "Biological resources"? Beyond air and water?

WTF?!?!?

The bottom line for Beloit:

The proposed 33-acre casino project would be located just off of Interstate 90/39 and would include a 300-room hotel. The project is expected to cost about $150 million to build, and could create up to 2,000 jobs, Ho-Chunk officials previously told the Beloit Daily News. Ho-Chunk officials had said in previous interviews the casino plan includes a 70,000-square-foot casino with 2,000 slots and 50 gaming tables.

Tell Washington to go scratch. If Beloit and the Ho-Chunk Nation agree, that should be all that matters past the opinions of people owning land adjacent to the proposed location. 200 jobs in this area is what is important - not some imaginary "environmental" issue.

Beloit gets a casino!

...if the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs agrees, which could take another two years or so.

I would like someone to explain to me why Native Americans are so stupid as to be required to ask the Great White Father in Washington, DC - oops, Great Chocolate Father - for permission to enter freely into a business arrangement with a city in a sovereign state of our Union. At the most, the State of Wisconsin might have a say - and they did, already.

How much could we chop out of the federal budget by eliminating the BIA and all other extraneous and outdated "bureaus" left over from the 19th Century?

And how much could be saved if we got rid of every bureau that is not explicitly authorized by our Constitution?

Question to my local paper

I just emailed this to the Beloit Daily News. A recent headline said the City of Beloit was needing to deal with the BIA before being allowed to build a casino.
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Someone please explain to me why the City of Beloit needs to beg permission from the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, or anyone in Washington DC before entering in to a contract with anyone to build a casino in Beloit? If there's any permission to be asked, I would expect it to be at the state level at the most, unless the property is not in the city limits, in which case the town or county might get involved.

Another thing - why is there even such a critter as a "Bureau of Indian Affairs" in this day and age? Are Native Americans so naive and stupid that they need the Great White Father to make sure they don't get a bad deal?

Just wondering...
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What ever happened to state's rights - and when did Native Americans need to get federal permission to enter inot business contracts?