The queen meets the king

"Dori, I'm going to be honest with you -- you know me well enough -- I cannot be bought, cannot be sold. I would not engage in anything illegal, I would not engage in anything unethical."

Dori Monson, The King of Seattle Talk Radio got a gnarly 'get' Wednesday and he didn't even have to try.

Governor Christine Gregoire whom the Little King (KIRO m-f,12-3p) sneeringly trashes daily, called into the big show unannounced.

She talked circles around him in her direct, precise, authoritative way.

It was great radio: they both did well; both furthered their own interests.

The governor did that by showing up, addressing Dori's broad-brush accusations comfortably; and took the opportunity to show she's not the evil witch as she's portrayed on the radio.

Dori was unflapped, he rose to the occasion. He had his anti-tax, anti-government, anti-Democrat, anti-Gregoire memes in hand; and presented them without popping his buttons. This was a star in his crown -- he is, after all, The King.

(We almost forgot: he's the guy who says that socialism causes littering).  

The unexpectedness of her calling-in made for great radio. 

Dori thinks the state should get revenues from Indian gambling, damn the consequences.

He parrots the insinuations generated by Gregoire's greasy opponent Dino Rossi saying there's an appearance of "bribery and money-laundering," and that "the tribes just own state government." There's obviously been a pay-off to the Gregoire campaign,  through the State Democratic Party to let the Indians from having to share revenues from their casinos with the states, at least according to Dori and his ditto-heads.

But the Gov got down to the nut-cutting. The decision to not take a cut, she said, was a unanimous bi-partisan legislative decision recommended by the late Republican King Co. prosecutor a Norm Maleng, prosecutors and law enforcement across the state. And the decision was made years before she was in office.

(photo: Dori Monson -- battered lip syndrome)

To get a piece of the action, the state would have to allow unfettered, Las Vegas-style gambling which no one wants -- except, apparently, Dori. And maybe Dino.

"This is nothing more than a campaign to smear me personally," she said." Monson couldn't/wouldn't argue that it wasn't.

(This as Gregoire released her personal tax returns and the secretive Rossi refuses to release his -- as he also did in 2004.)

We wish more of the pols Dori Monson trashes every day would walk in on him. He says stuff he hardly believes, and very often his hyperventilation is a manufactroversy or pulled straight out of his broadening backside. Once, County Executive and arch Dori enemy, Ron Sims walked right into his show -- it was truly amazing how sniveling and civil the little guy got when Ron looked him in the eye.

There was a lot more in the 15 minute conversation -- taxes, budgets, and transportation. Dori placed the blame, read the EFF talking points -- Christine supplied the facts and explained the real process.

Christine's made of titanium. She was the lead negotiator in the tobacco-company settlement that brought in $242 billion, the largest settlement in the history of the world. She's the one in 2004 who refused to concede for seven weeks when the voting machines had her opponent, Rossi up by 42 votes.

She's not about to be cowed by an overpaid, mouthy pipsqueak with a girl's name and a fiberglass upper lip.

Comments

[Dori like sto think that he's rally a nice guy]

Dori likes to think that he is really a nice guy who is avoived by epople because they can't stand the heat of his legitimate questiond . He's not a nice guy- and what's more he's a major twerp. People liek Gregoire just don't feel they are with a professional when they go go "Dori", rather they feel they are with a twerp who is trying to ape what a professional broadcaster sounds like.

[Andrew]

Politicians know Dori's claims of wanting to a fair interview are dishonest. He knows he can out "radio" the Governor because he succeeded in doing so before, and that's all he's interested in doing again.

[Puget Sound]

"Dori thinks the state should get revenues from Indian gambling, damn the consequences."
An excerpt from the PI a few years ago.

"Tribes give big to Gregoire, avoid sharing casino cash
Governor says deal curbs the growth of Indian gambling

By CHRIS McGANN
P-I CAPITOL CORRESPONDENT

OLYMPIA -- Gov. Chris Gregoire is benefiting from more than $650,000 in campaign contributions from Indian tribes that hit the jackpot in 2005 when she killed a gambling compact potentially worth more than $140 million a year to the state.

Unlike 22 other states that collect millions from revenue sharing agreements for tribal gambling, Washington gets no money from tribal casinos under the compact that Gregoire renegotiated with the Spokane Tribe.

Gregoire backed away from the 2005 agreement that included revenue sharing in an attempt to keep gambling from expanding too quickly and after listening to concerns from a wide range of groups, including other tribes, said her spokesman, Pearse Edwards.

But gambling experts say the state's arrangement, which gives the governor power to approve or reject gambling agreements with the tribes and allows those same tribes to contribute to political campaigns, is ethically problematic but not illegal.

"It's a payoff," said University of Nevada-Las Vegas professor William Thompson, who has been studying tribal gambling since 1988. "She shouldn't take any campaign money, nor should her political party, and it smells too quid pro quo for my liking."

Even Gregoire's fellow Democrats in the Legislature question the deal.

"Why would you give someone a monopoly without taking a cut?" asked Sen. Ken Jacobsen, D-Seattle.

The bulk of the tribal campaign contributions came from tribes that opposed the 2005 agreement Gregoire killed.

The governor's spokesman said "there is no quid pro quo."

"We are required under federal law to negotiate with the tribes on a government to government basis," Edwards said.

"Regarding the potential revenue, the tribes employ tens of thousands of people across the state, mostly non-Indian, who are providing nearly a billion dollars in wages and benefits. They've contributed millions to local governments for local infrastructure programs. They contribute millions to charities. The list goes on and on," he said. "They contribute over $100 million to health and education programs around the state."

The final compact negotiated by Gregoire included a provision that allowed other tribes to expand casino operations without revenue sharing. Twenty-seven of the state's 29 federally recognized tribes signed on to the Spokane compact's provision. Not all of them operate casinos.

State tribes have pumped more than $600,000 in campaign contributions into the state Democratic Party since 2004, which in turn contributed to Gregoire's campaign.

Tom McCabe, executive vice president of the Building Industry Association of Washington, which has contributed heavily to Gregoire's Republican challenger, Dino Rossi, said the incentive is obvious.

"Politically, they can't afford to have her lose," McCabe said. "So they are going to have to spend whatever it takes to have her win. They know if Rossi wins, all bets are off."

Tribes have also contributed to Republican candidates but at a tiny fraction of the level they have given to Democrats.

In 2005 the state Gambling Commission and the Spokane Tribe reached an agreement that would have allowed more than 7,000 video gambling machines and a six-tiered revenue sharing structure. The renegotiated deal without revenue sharing allowed only 4,700 machines.

If the original compact had been approved, other tribes would be entitled to similar levels of expansion under the same terms.

Depending on the number of tribes participating, the state could have received from $40 million to more than $140 million annually."

The Gov's argument that she curtailed gambling around the state by cutting the deal rings hollow. The other States that get revenue seem to do fine. Sure would have been nice to get about $100 million a year in revenue.

[Coiler]

Like the story says Puts, it would have turned Washington into Las Vegas style gambling if it wasn't managed the way it is, which Dori doesn't want since he takes his family there.

"Regarding the potential revenue, the tribes employ tens of thousands of people across the state, mostly non-Indian, who are providing nearly a billion dollars in wages and benefits. They've contributed millions to local governments for local infrastructure programs. They contribute millions to charities. The list goes on and on," he said. "They contribute over $100 million to health and education programs around the state"

The state does get 100 million distributed and more according to the story you just posted.

Not sure if you read that before you posted it.

How much has the BIAW pumped into state political campaigns? BIAW manages to use their own gambling program of private workers comp insurance to siphon so much money out of players(BIAW member businesses) that they can pay Tom McCabe, the now leaving VP a $1.25 million buy-out. Supposedly they were managing their private workers comp program better than the gumbmint.