Hillary Clinton Loves GamblingShould Hillary Clinton be elected to the White House as the next US President (and oddsmakers believe she will be at 1-3) she could very well fast forward legislation that would allow Vegas gambling online. How that translates with offshore enterprises is anybody's guess. Current legislation does not permit online gambling sites to operate from within US borders with a notable exception being horse racing.
According to the Huffington Post Hillary Clinton has racked up the public endorsement of some of the state's most influential gambling industry executives and advocates.
The Clinton campaign has unveiled the formation of the Nevada Business Leadership Council led by Jan Jones, a former Las Vegas Mayor and a current top executive of and lobbyist for national gambling mega-corporation Harrah's Entertainment, that website reports.
Also prominent among the new pro-Hillary business group is Phil Satre, former chairman and CEO of Harrah's and a veteran leader in the Vegas gambling industry. Vegas.com CEO Howard Lefkowitz, Henry Terry, Executive Director of Human Resources of Playlv Gaming Operations, and Punam Mather, a Senior Vice President at the casino-owning MGM Mirage Corp. MGM Mirage operates and own a series of mega-resort casinos including the Bellagio, Mirage and the MGM Grand.
There was a time when gambling money could taint a political campaign, Las Vegas-based historian Michael Green told the HuffPost. But those days are long gone. 'It was former Senator Paul Laxalt who once quipped that in Nevada turning down money from the gambling industry would be like refusing support from GM in Detroit."
Political forces converged on Washington Wednesday to discuss the current state of online gambling legislation, with Las Vegas well represented.
Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., , whose district includes Las Vegas and Southern Nevada, criticized the federal government's efforts to curtail Internet gambling and argued for her bill to conduct a comprehensive study of the issue. That study also would review the impact of the law signed last year by President Bush that prohibits the U.S. financial industry from processing bets placed on online gambling sites, National Journal's Technology Daily reported. "The reality is that this study should have been conducted before the ban on Internet gambling was passed," she told the House Judiciary Committee hearing.
But Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., one of the key architects of last year's bill, said Internet gambling can have a more negative impact on a family than if a casino was built next door. He said a study into the issue would only be appropriate after the new law has been implemented and enforced. The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve Board last month released a proposed rule for the enforcement of the new law, with the comment period running until Dec. 12.
Berkley told the committee the United States has caused consternation among its closest trading partners by insisting that online gambling is illegal. The tiny island nation of Antigua and Barbuda successfully challenged the law at the World Trade Organization as a violation of international trade rules because it bans only online wagering while still allowing online bets on horse races and state lotteries. Financial Services Chairman Frank has introduced legislation to repeal the law and establish a system to allow and regulate online gaming, but Goodlatte called that effort unwise, since the regulations have not been completed. "These types of bills are premature at best," he said. Judiciary Chairman Conyers began the hearing by describing gambling as a "social evil." When Berkley disputed that, he suggested the Nevada experience should not be used to judge the effects of gambling on the country as a whole. "You are not ordinary. You are quite special," he said.
Hillary Clinton will be appearing on the CNN Democratic Debate in Las Vegas tonight (November 15, 2007) at 8 pm EST, moderated by Wolfe Blitzer.
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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
Originally published November 15, 2007 12:09 pm ET
