He’s Back! Down With Online Gambling
Added: Feb. 16, 2015
This tale is starting to look like more and more like a horror film from Hollywood. Would you believe that Sheldon Adelson is at it yet again? Yes, that Sheldon Adelson, the land based casino mogul who just so happens to be the CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp. The very same Sheldon Adelson who publicly declared that he was prepared to spend any amount of money necessary to have his way.
If you recall, having his way in Adelson’s world is nothing less than a complete reversal of online gambling in the United States. Not only does Sheldon want to prohibit any expansion of online gambling in the United States, he also wants the existing online casino operations shut down.
Side note: can’t you imagine the scene. Put the My Way or the highway governor of New Jersey (Chris Christie who has been on a tear trying and succeeding for the most part to bring online gambling to his residents) into a cage match with Sheldon, an equally motivated and vocal opponent?
Anyway, here is what is going on. This time Sheldon’s actions are showing up in the form of a new bill by a tag team supporting Adelson’s cause. Representatives Jason Chaffetz (from the Republican side of the table) along with Tulsi Gabbard (from the Democratic side of the table) recently reintroduced the same bill that Adelson was supporting in 2014.
As you might well expect from this sort of political maneuvering, Chaffetz made it out that this was all about the children. Specifically, he told reporters that the reason he was lending his support for Adelson’s bill is for concern for children. Chaffetz, in so many words, was saying that online gambling operators are targeting children. He was quoted as saying that: “..this is so offensive and wrong. When you’re a seven year old kid and there is no physical barrier and all you need to do is get your iPhone, that becomes a whole new world.”
Continuing on, Chaffetz even went so far as to compare the current state of online gambling to the Wild Wild West. In other words, there are no rules, no prohibitions, no structure, that sort of thing. Naturally, this sort of talk is expected from legislators when they sponsor a new bill.
The real question this time around is whether or not Sheldon will prevail. Recall that Sheldon has vowed to spend until he wins and he was rather generous with his campaign contributions last year. Stay tuned as this saga continues into the next chapter.