Op-ed: Sheldon Adelson and his lobbyists don't want you to gamble online

[The Buzz]

Great piece by Matthew Boyer in the Washington Examiner about how in the wake of Pennsylvania passing online gambling last month, old friend Sheldon Adelson continues to try and undermine the iGaming industry.

While Pennsylvania overcame Adelson’s astroturf lobbying push, his coalition is still working in several other states to advance casino owners’ interests. For example, in Michigan, [Adelson’s Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling] recently testified at a House hearing, alleging that online gambling feeds addictive behavior and can potentially harm children. Political budgetary battles are not a new game, but seldom do out-of-state forces receive such a loud microphone.

Adelson’s time is not just invested in these localized campaigns. To make matters easier, he is also pushing a federal bill that would override these state laws in one fell swoop. Adelson has been pushing the Restoration of America’s Wire Act, or RAWA, for several years. It is rooted in crony dealmaking and would have a disastrous impact on the Pennsylvania state budget, among others. This summer, Adelson hired a longtime friend of Attorney General Jeff Sessions to lobby the Justice Department on this issue.

So why does the big-time conservative donor want Congress to go all in on a bad hand?

It’s merely crony capitalism. In accepting market innovation and digitization, many other casino CEOs have folded their hand in the fight against online gambling. Adelson, however, has raised his. By lobbying Congress to enact RAWA, Adelson can isolate his casino empire from the realities of Internet gambling . . . But as a longtime entrepreneur and hospitality CEO, one would think that Adelson is more in tune with market demands.

The reality is that the economy looks a lot different in 2017. The Internet has birthed the sharing economy and transformed most industries. Just as the rest of the world can’t ignore the digital age in which consumers get access to what they want on demand from a smartphone in their pocket, the gambling industry shouldn’t confine itself to physical casinos. There’s profit to be made in Internet gambling and states are catching on.

Legalizing online gambling would be a beneficial play for many states and Adelson is standing in the way. Legislators should stand up to these crony interests and support the choices of consumers — whether they’re a gambler or not.

Read the entire editorial here: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/sh...rticle/2639809

[stillshadow]

Just in case anyone forgot, too, he's given at least $25-30 million to Trump as well:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/19/u...ndraising.html
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ion-25-million

[ocreditor]

Of course they dont... this is by the way another form of dictatorship well funded dictatorship...