Anti-Web Gambling Crusader Adelson May Buy the US Senate: $100m Up for Grabs
Gambling magnate and GOP mega donor Sheldon Adelson may be looking to try to buy the US Senate. He is spending $100 million of his own cash on the mid-term elections through various untraceable conservative groups, The Daily Beast is reporting.
From the Daily Beast:
Several of the casino mogul’s largest checks, in the mid-seven to low-eight figure range, are being sent to a quartet of conservative nonprofits that under IRS rules can mask donors’ names, say three GOP operatives and donors familiar with his contributions.
It’s no secret to those who regularly read the Gambling911.com website that Adelson is also one of the most outspoken voices against legalizing online gambling in the US. He has referred to the activity as a “cancer” while calling it “toxic” and a detriment to family values.
In fact, Adelson helped draft legislation that would prohibit online poker and other forms of Web gambling in the US by strengthening current laws.
Interestingly enough, it was South Carolina Republican Senator Lindsey Graham who co-authored the bill.
You can see why this is so interesting as reported by the Daily Beast:
Last year, Adelson also launched a high-stakes lobbying drive to enact legislation that would ban Internet gambling, an industry that competes with his casinos. Although Adelson has couched the issue in moral terms—citing the risks that Internet gambling poses to children—the legislation would also help his casinos fend off an online threat to their bottom line. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham introduced a measure to ban Internet gambling just months after his campaign got a $15,000 contribution from the casino mogul, who also hosted a Vegas fundraiser for Graham. “I’m willing to spend whatever it takes” to stop online gaming, Adelson vowed in a Forbes interview.
For more than a decade a small number of Republicans - and even some Democrats - have worked to outlaw Internet gambling. Graham was not one of them. He came out of the woodwork shortly after cashing Adelson's check.
Just sayin'.
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
