Feds Settle 13 yr. Old Cobell vs Salazar

And they want to run your health care? This is just another example of why they should not.

The US government agreed yesterday to pay 1.4 billion dollars to settle Cobell vs Salazar. The 13 year old suit against the government was for 100 years of mismanaged land and money it held in trust for hundreds of thousands of Native Americans.

The government will also establish a two billion dollar fund to pay for the consolidation of the land under tribal ownership by paying off, on a voluntary basis, the several hundred thousand Indians with interests in the land.

In addition, it will set up a 60 million dollar scholarship fund for Native American students.

The agreement must be approved by the US Congress and the US district court of the District of Columbia.

"Between the accounting claims and the trust administration claims, the plaintiff class will receive approximately 1.4 billion dollars," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement adding that it "has been the subject of intense, and sometimes difficult, litigation. But today, we turn the page. The United States could have continued to litigate this case, at great expense to the taxpayers. It could have let all of these claims linger, and could even have let the problem of fractionated land continue to grow with each generation. But with this settlement, we are erasing these past liabilities and getting on track to eliminate them going forward.”

Elouise Cobell, who first brought the class action lawsuit in 1996, said, "Today we have an administration that is listening to us.” But she also had "no doubt" the settlement award was "significantly less than the full accounting to which the class members are entitled."