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ESMONDE: Bloomberg’s try at humor disses upstate  

This is serious business. Indians whose economy is partly dependent on sales of untaxed cigarettes, and a state government desperate for new revenue, are navigating murky legal waters in search of an acceptable answer. If history is a guide, it may get ugly. It is a tough issue, and I will leave it to the courts to decide where sovereignty ends and taxation begins.

As the taxation dispute comes to a head, I sincerely hope that nobody follows Bloomberg’s jocular advice and reaches for a six-shooter. Unlike in the old Westerns, the emotions are real— and so are the bullets.

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