Will Dirty Politics Set The Course Of Online Gambling?
Added: May 30, 2016
That is a question you may well want to seriously consider, especially now that the U.S. is in an extremely contentious presidential election. Here’s is what going on, but take care, you may well want to hold your nose before you wade into this cesspool.
You will not be surprised at all to hear that the infamous Sheldon Adelson is at yet again. You certainly recall that Sheldon has been spearheading a personal campaign against any further expansion of online casino action in the United States. Side note: if you are not up to to speed on Sheldon Adelson, suffice it to say that he is the CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation out in Las Vegas. In other words, a billionaire land based casino magnate with a clear objective of protecting his turf. In fact, back way in 2013 Sheldon publicly vowed to spend any amount necessary to have his way.
So that is the backstory, the background, if you will for what is happening behind closed doors in the U.S. Senate. For the record, up until this latest news, the proponents of online casino action were breathing a collective sigh of relief since Sheldon’s efforts had not yet made any headway.
But apparently one does not become a billionaire casino magnate by simply accepting the answer ‘No’. Instead, news just broke that a Senator most definitely on the Adelson campaign contribution list by the name of Lindsey Grapham made what some would label as a rather sneaky move to promote Adelson’s interest.
You see, the Honorable Senator Lindsey Graham somehow inserted the language for the long dead Bill supporting Adelson’s agenda into the the most recent Senate Appropriations Bill. As it reads right now, this last minute language in the Appropriations Bill would effectively ban internet based gambling throughout the United States, no matter what the state’s individual laws happen to be on this matter.
As you can might well imagine, the proponents of increased online casino action in the United States are now scrambling to negate this latest action. Note that the next step for the Bill is to make it’s way through the U.S. House of Representatives. Obviously those that support online gambling are now pulling out all stops to make sure this language is removed from the appropriations Bill.
As this is an election year, there really is no way to predict how this will play out. If ever there was a time to keep your eyes open on the goings on in Washington, that time is now.