Is online gambling good or bad?
I don’t know the answer to the above question, but I do know that I don’t want billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson to decide the answer on behalf of more than 300 million Americans. That’s what might happen, though, thanks to a completely corrupt political system.
Thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court, the political system has become even more corrupt in recent years. On June 19, I wrote a blog entitled “Supreme Court Is Political, Not Judicial” that was the first of a four-part series on the dangers of a political and judicial system that Americans should no longer trust.
One of the Court’s most outrageous decisions was its 2010 ruling in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission that outlawed some limits on political spending because the Court’s five conservatives concluded that corporations are people and money is speech.
Since the decision, covert spending on political campaigns – spending by donors who are anonymous – has escalated. The third and fourth parts of my series on the dangers of an untrustworthy political and judicial system are based on my research into campaign contributions by anonymous donors.
This blog – Part II of the four-part series – is based on the open attempt by Adelson to influence the political system. American democracy is in trouble when the belief that we are governed by a “one person, one vote” credo is demolished by the actions of one person who is the eighth wealthiest person in the USA. Adelson, 80, is worth more than $38 billion, according to this article in The Nation magazine.
Other billionaires are also spending obscene money on politics. That’s why I used the plural “billionaires” in the headline.
In 2012, Adelson “singlehandedly kept Newt Gingrich’s (presidential) campaign alive” via $15 million in campaign contributions and later donated $30 million to GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s campaign, according to The Nation article. (Adelson and Gingrich are pictured together above.)
This spring, Adelson expanded his influence by holding what The Washington Post called the “Sheldon Primary” at a hotel he owns in Las Vegas. Adelson interviewed four prospective GOP 2016 presidential candidates – former Florida governor Jeb Bush, New Jersey governor Chris Christie, Ohio governor John Kasich, and Wisconsin governor Scott Walker. This report in The Washington Post says that Adelson and wife Miriam Adelson are “plotting their investments” in the 2016 presidential campaign.
Adelson’s attempt to buy the presidency is beyond morally revolting, but who can blame him for trying to get what he wants when the U.S. Supreme Court has decided that rich plutocrats should have even more political power than they already have
Unfortunately, Adelson’s meddling in politics extends well beyond presidential campaigns – and extends well beyond Republicans. Unfortunately, his tactics are working, according to an article in The Washington Post entitled “Adelson political beneficiaries adopt casino magnate’s cause to ban Internet gambling.”
The article says that Adelson has donated millions of dollars to numerous people who want to be attorney general in their states as well as would-be governors and other candidates for statewide offices.
“Many of the beneficiaries of Adelson’s state donations are now siding with the billionaire as he seeks to outlaw a practice (online gambling) he views as a threat to the economic health of the casino industry on which he built his fortune.”
The article also says:
* Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) urged the U.S. Congress to block Internet gambling after the billionaire donated $750,000 to pro-Scott political committees.
* Adelson has hired prominent California Democrats to lobby the Democrat-dominated legislature to block Internet gambling in the state.
* Possible 2016 GOP presidential candidates and governors Bobby Jindal (La.), Mike Pence (Ind.) and Rick Perry Texas) opposed online gambling after Adelson donated to their organizations.
* The leader of the federal effort to ban online gambling, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), raised a lot of money from Adelson, his relatives, and his friends.
* Adelson is bankrolling Democrats across the USA to support his efforts. His employees include ex-Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln and ex-Denver major Wellington Webb. He also has a close personal and political relationship with gambling proponent Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader.
“Adelson, 80, is single-handedly funding the opposition (to Internet gambling) both by hiring lobbyists and tapping into political relationships forged through time and donations,” The Washington Post article says.
The third and fourth articles in this series will detail how the kind of influence that billionaires like Adelson have is corrosive to democracy.
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