Tag: sheldon adelson

Gambling magnate says he expects nothing for his contributions to Gingrich

Of course he says that.

Adelson would defeat his purposes if he said, “I want Newt to keep the Christians and/or Federal government away from my gambling empire.”

ABC News is at least looking into the matter. According to a report from ABC late yesterday, an unnamed source reportedly close to Adelson told ABC News that

Mr. Adelson is “puzzled” by the attention the recent Super PAC gift has received.

The source told ABC News that Adelson wants nothing in return.

Adelson has given over $7 million to Gingrich’s non-profit organizations since the mid-1990s. As I noted yesterday, Gingrich was cozy with the gambling  industry during his time as Speaker of the House. On one occasion, he was instrumental in weakening a commission that investigated the gambling industry.

The ABC report is a bit odd. Why wasn’t the source named? Why did ABC News not interview the Gingrich campaign? How about asking some of Gingrich’s religious right supporters about how they feel about gambling profits being the main lifeblood of their family values candidate.

This denial only raises more questions.

Anti-Gambling Group: Gingrich thwarted efforts to regulate gambling

Given the twin $5 million gifts given by gambling mogul and Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson and his wife Miriam, I wondered if reports of Gingrich favoring the industry would emerge.

According to an anti-gambling group based in Washington DC, Gingrich did in fact work to remove power from a government commission on gambling.

In this 1996 Washington Post article, Gingrich is quoted as favoring the removal of subpoena power from a commission being considered at the time.

House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) has recommended a substantial weakening of a bill to examine the runaway growth of legalized gambling in America.

Speaking Monday at a fund-raiser in a Las Vegas casino, where he raised $70,000 for the reelection campaign of freshman Rep. John Ensign (R-Nev.), Gingrich said that a House bill to create a federal gambling commission should be modified so that the commission does not have the power to issue subpoenas.

According to a 1996 report in the Las Vegas Sun, Gingrich opposed a strong commission which led to some political fallout with a group he is now courting – religious conservatives.

Gingrich’s position has angered religious anti-gaming advocates who believe the gaming industry is calling the shots in Washington, D.C.

Methodist Minister Thomas Grey, executive director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, warned that efforts by Gingrich or other Republicans to water down the gaming commission bill could help Democratic President Clinton secure the “family values” vote in November.

“This could create great problems for Republicans because they’re making this a political issue,” Grey said. “This is a public relations disaster for these people.”

This Chicago Tribune report says Gingrich was the last obstacle of a tougher bill with power to get information via subpoena.

All of this should raise questions for Gingrich given that his non-profit organizations and his campaign have been underwritten by Sheldon Adelson, who casinos cater to gamblers here and in Asia.

Additional information: After I posted on Gingrich and gambling, Right Wing Watch’s Brian Tashman noted that many of Gingrich’s evangelical supporters had spoken out against gambling. Ironically, the American Family Association’s journal wrote about the gambling commission in 1997 and mentioned Gingrich’s role in appointing a person friendly to the gambling industry. He also eventually appointed Kay James, an anti-gambling member as well.

Gambling

Last year Congress voted to establish a nine-member federal commission to study the impact of gambling in America. Under that legislation, the President, the House and the Senate are each to choose three members. Almost $500 billion is wagered annually producing over $40 billion in profits for the gambling industry, countless ruined lives and families, political corruption, and increased crime. The Washington Post recently editorialized that the “big-money gamblers are betting a bundle on President Clinton to do their bidding” and “stack” the commission with those favorable to the gambling interests. According to the Post, on the President’s short list are many with close ties to the gambling industry, including Bill Bible, chairman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board. Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R-GA) has already used one of his two choices to appoint the chairman and CEO of a Las Vegas casino company. House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-MO), a recipient of big gambling bucks, who gets one selection, favors the head of a union representing casino employees, the Post reports. Thus, the President’s three picks may determine the outcome of the commission’s work. He could make such a positive impact on America if he would only appoint three people with sound Judeo-Christian values and no ties to the gambling industry. Then we may learn the true impact of widespread gambling on America, and then states and communities may have some ammunition against the gambling industry as it seeks to expand. Will the President do the right thing? Don’t bet on it.

The AFA article criticizes Richard Gephardt for taking “big gambling bucks” and yet now Don Wildmon, founder of the AFA, is a supporter of Gingrich. Gingrich’s non-profit organizations have been funded with nearly $8 million in gambling donations and a PAC dedicated to getting him elected has accepted $5 million in donation from the casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and another $5 million from Adelson’s wife.

Are “big gambling bucks” OK now?

Via the Tampa Bay Times

See also:

Gingrich Gets Five Million From Gambling Mogul’s Wife

I wrote yesterday about the main financial backer of Newt Gingrich – casino owner Sheldon Adelson. According to a New York Times report, Adelson’s wife, Miriam Adelson matched her husband’s pre-South Carolina primary $5 million gift to Gingrich with her own gift of the same amount.  The gift will go to Winning Our Future, a political action committee dedicated to making Gingrich the GOP nominee.

Sheldon Adelson runs an empire of gambling casinos in Las Vegas, Macau and Singapore. His company is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department in relation to allegations of bribes in Macau. Macau is the largest gambling market in the world, and caters to high rolling Chinese patrons.

Oddly, Gingrich’s family values campaign owes its life blood to profits made in part from free spending Chinese gamblers.

 

 

Gingrich backed by casino mogul – Is gambling a family value?

I wonder how many of Newt Gingrich’s family values voters are aware that Gingrich is beholden to Sheldon Adelson, billionaire casino owner. According to these reports, Adelson recently gave Gingrich’s SuperPac $5 million.

In the Philadelphia Inquirer article, Gingrich is called a “close friend” of Adelson. A conversation between Adelson and his right hand man, Michael Levin indicates how the gambling mogul cast Romney as a ruthless money man. Apparently it takes lots of money to criticize someone else who has lots of money.

According to the Washington Post, the lion’s share of Gingrich’s financial support comes from Adelson who also counts on Gingrich for policies favorable to Israel. The Post article provides some important background to understand how necessary Adelson has been for Gingrich’s career after he left Congress.

According to an anti-gambling website affiliated with the Institute for American Values, Gingrich’s friendship with Adelson involves more than common ground on Israel:

When he was House speaker, Gingrich helped Adelson combat union organizing efforts at his gaudy Venetian casino in Vegas. Gingrich also backed legislation in 1998 to preserve tax deductions beneficial to the industry, The Times reported. Adelson has donated millions to Gingrich in the past and let him use his corporate jet.

At least one social conservative, Richard Land, editor of the Christian Post and prominent Southern Baptist leader was quoted back in April, 2011 as indifferent to Gingrich’s ties to Adelson.

Gingrich’s tight ties with Adelson could cause heartburn for some social conservatives who oppose gambling. Land, of the Baptist group, said “Gambling is a nefarious industry that corrupts everything it touches.”

But Land said that thus far he is not concerned about the ties, unless Gingrich decides to back the expansion of gambling or Internet gambling or if the criminal investigation leads to charges against the Sands.

I wonder how many religious conservatives even know about these ties? Gingrich is taking money derived from an industry which Land says “corrupts everything it touches.” Via Adelson’s donations, it certainly has touched Gingrich.

Land is certainly in a position to write about Gingrich’s ties to the gambling industry as editor of the Christian Post. However, I don’t recall seeing any articles there or in any evangelical news source about these matters. I think these matters might be relevant to evangelical voters.