New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, left, rides in a golf cart driven by President Barack Obama, right, while playing golf at Vineyard Golf Club, in Edgartown, Mass., on the island of Martha's Vineyard, Friday. (AP/Steven Senne)

Although an apology was sought, none has been forthcoming

So when Bloomberg joined President Barack Obama during his vacation on Martha’s Vineyard a few days ago, hopes were high for what Indian Country Today writer Rob Capriccioso terms “a teachable moment.”

Obama has, after all, been attentive to the concerns of Indian Country. People thought, Capriccioso writes, that Obama might discuss the issue with Bloomberg:

The hopes ranged from small – recognition – to large – getting the president to secure an apology. No matter their size, they were quashed.

Instead, Obama – who has sometimes made a point of publicly supporting Indian issues – engaged Bloomberg in a conversation about the economy, and played a round of golf. Adding insult to injury, some New York papers have cited anonymous sources saying that Obama was feeling out Bloomberg for a job in his administration.

Bloomberg’s remark came in the midst of an ongoing effort by New York state to collect a $4.35-a-pack tax on cigarettes sold by Native-owned stores to non-Natives.

The tax was to be imposed starting yesterday; however, a federal judge has ordered a two-week delay – plenty of time, still, for Bloomberg to apologize.

Gwen Florio

The saga continues. A federal judge has delayed a final ruling for two weeks on imposing a sales tax – originally slated to start today – on cigarettes sold by the Seneca and Cayuga nations to non-Native customers.

The delayed ruling is prompting a business boom at the Native-owned shops as people stock up on cigarettes in anticipation of a $4.35-a-pack tax hike, WIVB reports.

Gwen Florio

n this Aug. 23, 2010 photo, a motorist enters a business on the Tonawanda Seneca Nation in New York. (AP Photo/David Duprey)

In this Aug. 23, 2010 photo, signs are posted on a bridge on the Tonawanda Seneca Nation in New York. Tensions are rising as the state nears the Sept. 1 start date to collect taxes on cigarettes sold by Indian tribes. The photo at left depicts New York Gov. David Paterson, while the photo at right depicts New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. (AP Photo/David Duprey)

Judge Richard Arcara granted a request by the tribes for a court order that stops the state from imposing a $4.35 per pack sales tax on cigarettes sold by reservation retailers starting on Wednesday. The ruling delays those collections for at least two weeks. It wasn’t immediately clear if the state will go ahead with taxes on other tribes.

Attempts to collect the tax in the 1990s resulted in sometimes violent protests on Seneca lands.

The Senecas — the biggest player in the business — and Cayugas argued the policy change violates sovereign rights and will damage their economies.

The cash-strapped state sees the tax as a potential $200 million source of annual revenue.

With but one day left until New York state starts collecting a $4.35-a-pack cigarette taxes on reservations, the issue is now up to a federal judge.

As the Buffalo News puts it, “he stakes are high, and the clock is ticking.”

Yesterday, New York Supreme Court Judge Donna M. Siwek refused to block the state from collecting taxes on cigarettes sold in Native-owned stores to non-Native customers. The tax would add $4.35 per XXXX.

Tribes are fighting down to the wire, the News reports:

With tax collections scheduled to begin Wednesday, the Seneca Nation and other Indian tribes will get another chance to fight the law in federal court this afternoon.

They will ask U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara to issue an injunction delaying the implementation of the new law, which could ignite some violent demonstrations by angry Senecas.

“For us, these are grave circumstances,” said Robert Odawi Porter, a Seneca Nation lawyer and tribal presidential candidate,tells the News.

Both tribal and state officials have expressed fears that attempts to collect the tax could spark violence. In years past, similar attempts led to a shutdown of the New York Thruway where it runs through tribal land. Gov. David A. Paterson referred last week to the possibility of “violence and death.”

The state desperately needs the money from the tax, which could bring an estimated $200 million a year. But some tribal members tell WIVB (video above) that if the state tries to collect the tax, they won’t pay.

Gwen Florio

We don’t write these things, we just pass ‘em along. Most days, we’re envious of the very fine reporting and writing comprising the items we post here, and say so. Today’s editorial from the New York Daily News, however, doesn’t need any comment.

It’s headlined “Time to kick butts: Gov. Paterson must crack down on Indian cigarette tax evasion.”

New York Gov. David A. Paterson (AP photo)

Gov. Paterson is vowing to launch a long-overdue drive on Wednesday to collect legally owed taxes from Indian cigarette dealers. He must hang tough, and he must succeed. For decades, New York officials have shamefully stood by as scofflaws operating under the cover of Native American sovereignty have openly and aggressively sold millions upon millions of tax-free smokes. … Tribal leaders who claim to be exercising rights under centuries-old treaties are blowing smoke.

The editorial reminds people of Paterson’s recent warning that “violence and death” could occur if the state attempts to collect the taxes – despite the fact the Seneca Nation leader Barry Snyder has called for calm.

Meanwhile, a federal judge is holding off on a decision as to whether the state can go forward Wednesday with collecting the tax, the Buffalo News reports.

Gwen Florio

New York Gov. David A. Paterson says the state start collecting taxes on Native American cigarettes, even though “violence and death” could result. as a result of his plan to collect a $4.35-per-pack tax on smokes sold by American Indian stores.

The $4.35-a-pack tax woudl apply to smokes sold to non-Natives in Native American stores.

“There will be quite an uprising and protest to this, but I am going to maintain this policy,” the New York Daily News says Paterson told WOR-AM.

“This is a very dangerous situation,” the governor said. “There is – I think – a high alert. The state police tell us over and over again that there could be violence and death as a result of some of the measures we’re taking.”

Efforts to collect the tax more than a decade ago resulted in protests that shut down the New York Thruway. Seneca Nation President Barry Snyder has called for no violence.

Here’s the part in the Daily News Story that boggles the mind: A sentence reads:

The American Indians claim they are sovereign nations, citing 18th century treaties, and therefore free of any state-imposed taxes.

Claim? Sounds like somebody better read up on history and law.

Gwen Florio

Here’s what the editorial board of the Syracuse Post-Standard writes:

You know what would make a great video? New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg issuing a formal apology to the Native American community for his racially insensitive remarks.

Those remarks concern Bloomberg’s advice to New York Gov. David A. Paterson that he get a “cowboy hat and a shotgun” and go connect taxes on Native cigarettes sold to non-Natives. New York, facing a severe budget crisis, opted to start collecting those taxes Sept. 1.
The situation was tense enough before Bloomberg’s comment, which sparked a rally this week by members of the Seneca and Oneida nations, among others, at New York City Hall. Now it’s worse. Hence, the Post-Standard editorial, which ended thusly:

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (AP photo)

Bloomberg is free to weigh in on the issue, of course, but as the National Congress (of American Indians) suggests, he should do so in the spirit of diplomacy. That effort should begin with a full-throated apology for his ill-conceived remarks. Following that, he might want to venture Upstate to visit a few Indian nations and familiarize himself with the struggles their residents face and the progress they have made. He could not help but be more sensitive in his future pronouncements if he did so.

Representatives of Native American tribes and organizations call on New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to apologize for racially insensitive remarks he made on John Gambling's Aug. 13 radio show. Local Onieda Nation members joined Monday's rally on the steps of City Hall. (Bryan Smith/New York Daily News)

Members of Native American tribes gathered on the steps of New York’s City Hall yesterday to take New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to task for the insensitivity of his recent remarks on how cigarette taxes should be collected from Native Americans.

According to the New York Post, Bloomberg suggested to Gov. David Paterson: “You know, get yourself a cowboy hat and a shotgun. If there’s ever a great video, it’s you standing in the middle of the New York State Thruway saying, you know, ‘Read my lips: The law of the land is this and we’re going to enforce the law.’”

Tribes immediately protested, noting that the remark came at a time when Bloomberg was calling for tolerance of a mosque planned near Ground Zero. The National Congress of American Indians seeks an apology.

And the Syracuse Post-Standard reports that:

The Seneca Nation of Indians passed a Tribal Council Resolution on Aug. 14 condemning Bloomberg’s comment as derogatory against the nation and its membership.

The resolution demands that Bloomberg resign his post as mayor of New York City and provide a formal written apology to the Seneca Nation and its members. The resolution also asks Paterson to publicly condemn Bloomberg’s comments and authorizes Seneca President Barry Snyder to file human rights and hate crime violations with the state of New York, Justice Department and United Nations Special Rapporteur on Indigenous People.

Oneida Nation Representative Ray Halbritter said in a prepared statement that “You can similarly imagine how members of the Jewish community would react if a politician urged the governor to ‘wear a red armband and hold a shotgun’ to confront Jewish people who defend their lands as we defend ours,” Halbritter wrote in a letter to Bloomberg. “While you claim to be calling just for the law to be enforced, surely as a Jewish leader you would recognize the tragic history of laws being used to suppress ethnic minorities.”

The cause of the controversy revolves around the state’s preparation to start collecting, on Sept. 1, a $4.35 per pack sales tax on cigarettes sold by Native American retailers to non-Native customers.

Gwen Florio

James Odata of the Albany (N.Y.) Times Union is keeping an eye on the situation today as tribal members protest Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s remarks on a tax on Native American cigarettes set to begin Sept. 1.

Odata writes:

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (AP photo)

Tribal members from as far away as the Seneca territory planned to meet in New York City this morning to protest outside city hall. Their rally was motivated by comments by Mayor Michael Bloomberg that have spread from tribe to tribe across the country. …

The National Congress of American Indian representatives and members of the upstate and Long Island tribes have been planning to merge outside the mayor’s offices. The group intends to ask for an apology and discuss sovereignty.

Bloomberg’s comment: According to the New York Post, he suggested the following to Gov. David Paterson. “I said to David Paterson, I said, ‘You know, get yourself a cowboy hat and a shotgun. If there’s ever a great video, it’s you standing in the middle of the New York State Thruway saying, you know, ‘Read my lips: The law of the land is this and we’re going to enforce the law.’”

We’ll be following this throughout the day.

Gwen Florio