The Gov apparently gave a speech where he outlined a hopeful metaphor for Montana:
Indian country has the potential to become the United States’ equivalent of the so-called “Irish miracle,” Gov. Brian Schweitzer said today in presenting the state’s annual tribal relations report.
As the Trib's summary makes clear, Ireland's boom occured in part because of the introduction of universal free higher education.
A few other states are already looking at developing programs that would model Ireland's commitment by offering tax credits would reimburse workers who stay in state after graduation for the cost of their loan payments. A similar tax credit structure could do some good in Montana. I have to admit, though, that I would favor a different practice where the state itself would issue the loan and then simply forgive it as long as the student stayed in state. It strikes me as far more efficient and eliminates the difficulty of making monthly payments only to wait for reimbursement at the end of the year.
The creation of tribal schools has been a solid step in the right direction if people are looking to recreate the Irish miracle. It's going to take a long-term commitment, though. And this component won't be cheap -- although long-term tax revenue growth should make up for it at least partially.
If you're looking for racism, just take a gander at the comments thread on this story at the Billings Gazette. The story is a lengthy one and an interesting one to boot -- about who will regulate and tax gaming on the Flathead Reservation.
The story is a fairly old one in government -- people declaring "taxation without representation," others pointing out that they aren't proposing a radical change to the status quo, and a lot of problems that appear to be caused by a lack of communication. For some reason, a number of commenters seem to have taken this as a sign that Indians are bad people, which is how to many conversations devolve in Montana.
That said, I'm not completely clear on the smooth way out of the question. The tribal government wants an increased say in matters on the reservation -- something fair. Business owners are saying that they want to be regulated by a government they have a say in -- a somewhat fair argument, except that they already live under tribal jurisdiction in a number of ways. And everyone says they want the employees to not lose their jobs (although some business owners seem to prefer going out of business to being regulated by the tribe, something that screams mild bigotry to me).
The state, meanwhile, isn't saying anything.
This strikes me as a good-place for the Governor to show a little get-'er-done attitude. I know he's got a lot of other stuff on his plate, but there are a number of jobs here, there's relationships between a number of Montanans, and there's a good deal of revenue up for grabs. Surely, a way out can be found.
Indians have reached proportional representation in the Montana legislature -- 10 Indians in a legislature of 150. One -- Doug Cordier -- was elected in Columbia Falls, a decidedly anglo-majority district (I've heard great things about Cordier -- alas, another person I have yet to meet).
The good news was written up by Indian Country Today. The victories -- which also included a number of county-level victories resulted from the same strong Indian turnout that helped put Jon Tester in the U.S. Senate.
Barack Obama