Geography for off-line shoppers
Vermont is boardered on the east by New Hampshire, which has no Federally Recognized Indian Tribes.
Vermont is boardered on the south by Massachussetts, which has one Federally Recognized Indian Tribe, located on the western end of Martha's Vinyard, the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah).
Vermont is boardered in the west by New York, which has nine Federally Recognized Indian Tribes. The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe (Akwesasne) is near Vermont, but the rest of the reservations are in central and western New York, about as remote to Vermont as Martha's Vinyard.
"Although Vermont does not have any Indian land, we lose tax revenues from sales made from Indian lands near our borders. It would be extremely unfortunate if the problem were allowed to grow. I will be pleased to lend my support to this bill."
Gov. Howard Dean (D-VT) to Rep. Ernest J. Istook Jr. (R-OK), June 1997, supporting a bill aimed at limiting the ability of Indian tribes' businesses to escape some state and local taxes.
To which Indian lands was Howard refering? How much sales tax revenues has Vermont lost to the Mohawks and the Wampanoags? I know the Wampanoags sell tee-shirts, polos and coffee cups -- all with the Tribe's seal. Maybe the Mohawks sell roadmaps.
What, other than Federally Recognized Indian Tribes, does New Hampshire lack?
What, other than Federally Recognized Indian Tribes, does Vermont lack?
Yes, this is a quiz.
Comments
State income tax? I'm pretty confident of that answer with respect to NH, less so with VT.
Posted by: Luis | December 7, 2003 10:27 AM
Correct w.r.t. NH -- no sales tax. VT however has a sales tax. This is probably too obscure.
Dean's claim is that VT sales tax revenue greater than some de minimus is lost to Indians. There are no Tribal tax jurisdictions closer to VT than NH, and NH is a heck of a lot easier to get to from just about all of VT than Akwasasne is from the most proximal corner of VT, and everything else is really far away from VT, as distances are reckoned in the North East.
Why would Dean make up the fiction of lost sales taxes to Indians, when every New Englander knows that New Hampshire is chock-a-block with tax-free retail maquiladoras selling everything from kitchen equipment to stereos and cameras?
My answer is VT lacks a tradition of honesty in its executive. Not unique, but a lie about WMD to justify diminuation of a foreign, independent sovereign is different from a lie about lost revenue to justify diminuation of a domestic, dependent sovereign, in what profoundly important way?
Posted by: The SO | December 7, 2003 12:52 PM