Some people are claiming the planned joint tribal casino in East Windsor can't go forward without formal approval by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

They are wrong.

Connecticut now gets 25 percent of the annual slot revenues from the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Tribe casinos. Last year, that was $265 million, close to what we get from cigarette taxes, and a lot for a cash-strapped state. But there's a catch: the obligation to pay is in exchange for those tribes having the exclusive right to casino gaming in the state. That's why the state is so eager avoid to losing casino business to MGM in Springfield, and won't (despite MGM's media blitz) allow it to operate here.