Sheldon Adelson’s Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling has added several political allies to its growing cast of characters in recent weeks, as Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) are expected to introduce legislation that would call for a ban on most forms of online gambling any day now, and several other prominent politicians have decided to openly fly the CSIG banner.
The two bills set to be introduced are nearly identical, with only slight differences in the language according to Chris Grove of onlinepokerreport.com. The House Bill is a carbon copy of a proposed Wire Act Fix that was first floated by Adelson’s group in January, while the Senate bill is also extremely similar but lacks a provision that calls for an FBI report on online gambling.
Rick Perry tosses a Texas sized hat into the ring
Chaffetz and Graham may be handling the federal side of this battle, but we are also seeing a continued effort to get state lawmakers to join the fight as well, perhaps in an effort to get out in front of the state’s rights argument that is at the center of this debate?
On Monday Texas Governor Rick Perry jumped aboard the Adelson gravy train, penning a letter calling on Congress to ban online gambling.
Perry is against online gambling for three reasons:
- Morality
- Technology
- And uh, um what’s the third one there… um… he forgot the third reason, sorry, I can’t… ooops…
On a serious note, Perry seems to be just another politician courting Adelson’s favor (if you recall Adelson spent over $100 million in the 2012 election cycle) considering the Governor’s term is up in 2016 and he is expected to at the very least explore another presidential run.
Lobbyists
At the same time, Adelson’s company, Las Vegas Sands, has also formally hired former Senator turned lobbyist Blanche Lincoln’s Lincoln Policy Group according to Kent Cooper of RollCall.com. Lincoln, a two-term senator from Arkansas along with former senate staffer Robert Holifield will lobby for “legislation that would reinstate the policy banning internet gambling (i.e. restore the Wire Act),” for Adelson and LVS according to the article.
It should be pointed out that Lincoln is listed as one of three co-chairs of the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling. Joining Lincoln as CSIG Chairpersons are former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb (a democrat) and former Republican Governor of New York George Pataki.
Adelson appears to be building a bipartisan coalition with Republican legislators introducing the bills and Lincoln (a democrat) using her connections (she served in the US senate from 1999 to 2011) in the democratic party to lobby for support of the twin anti-online gambling bills.
Does Congress have the stomach for this meal?
Adelson certainly wants to have this fight, and CSIG has been extremely active on a number of fronts, from a circulated petition calling for state Attorney Generals to call for a congressional ban of online gambling (only 15 AG’s signed off on this petition) to numerous editorials. CSIG has even created a YouTube video reminiscent of Cold War fear mongering, decrying online gambling –the only thing missing was Dana Carvey dressed up as the “Church Lady” and openly questioning if Satan is behind the whole online gambling industry.
Regulated online gambling in the US is certainly in a vulnerable position at the moment. So far we have three states with online gambling laws on the books (and even more with laws against it) and the only thing holding it together at the moment is a tenuous memo sent by the Department of Justice in 2011 that changed the agency’s interpretation of the 1961 Wire Act.
Adelson already has his gloves on and his mouthpiece in, and he has a strong team in his corner, but the arena is empty; nobody really wants to see this fight. There simply doesn’t seem to be any desire in Congress to tug on the thread of the online gambling sweater.
Sure, Adelson’s coalition has a number of big names, but as Chris Grove pointed out on the Poker Advocacy podcast on Monday night, more telling than the supporters are the names not supporting Adelson.
Adelson’s CSIG seems to have attracted a number of politicians and lobbyists who have their hands out for a paycheck or a campaign donation (Lindsey Graham just recently received the maximum donation from both Adelson and his wife, as well as a nice donation from Adelson’s Super PAC) but by and large this is such a divisive issue, a paradox for many politicians, not to mention the numerous states with competing interests that will require a number of carve outs; it’s simply not an issue most lawmakers want to touch.
There are also the motivations to consider, and most people find a casino mogul calling for a ban on one form of gambling over “moral” concerns quite contradictory. Adelson and company can continue to try to separate the two, but in most people’s eyes gambling is gambling.
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