Government calls payout proposal ‘absurd'
U.S. government rejects a $58B Indian payout
Published: April 11, 2008
WASHINGTON — The U.S. government doesn't owe money to American Indians suing over management of their trust accounts, and their claim for $58 billion is "absurd,” the government says.
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Equitable relief sought
Aware that U.S. District Judge James Robertson cannot require the U.S. government to pay damages, the Indians say the money owed isn't damages but "equitable” relief that any financial trust would have to provide if it improperly benefited from the use of trust funds.
The Indians also are asking the judge to return to the trust all the land that has been sold since the trust's inception in the late 19th century. An estimated 40 to 54 million acres were allotted, but only about 10 million acres remain.
The land is the source of most of the money in the individual Indian trust accounts. Robertson recently ruled that it would be "impossible” for the government to perform an historical accounting reaching back more than a century and provide accurate account balances to about 300,000 account holders. In its brief this week, the government rejected every argument the Indians made about why the trust is owed money and how much is owed.


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Probably because it's to close to what they really owe. I'm sure they were hoping to get out of this for a couple hundred million. Stealing is stealing, now fess up and settle this dang stupid lawsuit. Man it's a drop in the bucket compared to what we're paying out in the war in pork to the contractors. Just move one small item number in the defense budget and pay it.