US Senator Harry Reid: online gambling volte-face in the wake of heavy backing from the casino industry
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
US Senator Harry Reid: online gambling volte-face in the wake of heavy backing from the casino industry
US senator for Nevada Harry Reid failed last month in his bid to push online gambling legalisation through the US Congress during the "lame duck" session; according to The Washington Times:
Reid unlikely to hold the trump card in push for Internet gambling
Mr. Reid, Nevada Democrat, came up short last month during the congressional lame-duck session in his bid to allow U.S. casino companies to establish Internet poker sites and give them a cut of the multibillion-dollar offshore industry.
(more)
Mr. Reid, Nevada Democrat, came up short last month during the congressional lame-duck session in his bid to allow U.S. casino companies to establish Internet poker sites and give them a cut of the multibillion-dollar offshore industry.
(more)
The good senator is a former opponent to online gambling who has now, it seems, done a volte-face in favour of legalisation. This u-turn may not be entirely altruistic, as further into the above article we read the following regarding Reid's election campaign funding:
By the time Mr. Reid eked out a win on Nov. 2, he had received at least $650,000 from several Las Vegas casino companies, including MGM Resorts International, which owns the Bellagio, and Harrah's Entertainment, whose holdings include Caesars Palace.
MGM and Harrahs are both looking to establish an online presence if and when it becomes legally possible and can only benefit from pro-gambling lobbying. Of course, Senator Reid's new, favourable stance may be entirely unconnected to the receipt of the better part of three quarters of a million dollars from gambling corporations into his election fund. But that seems fairly unlikely. As noted by Politico:
...his critics have blasted his bill as political payback to the big casino interests that would reap millions of dollars from online poker and that helped him win reelection last month.
However, putting aside the heavy vested interests of these campaign contributors, the failure to get the bill through Congress and the appointment of arch gambling opponent Spencer Bachus to the chair of the Financial Services Committee leaves the prospect of US federal online gambling legalisation looking something of a pipe dream.
Permalink
|
Reply (0)
| 
0 Previous Comments
May 2005 | June 2005 | July 2005 | September 2005 | October 2005 | November 2005 | December 2005 | January 2006 | February 2006 | March 2006 | April 2006 | May 2006 | August 2006 | October 2006 | January 2007 | February 2007 | March 2007 | May 2007 | June 2007 | July 2007 | January 2008 | February 2008 | March 2008 | April 2008 | June 2008 | July 2008 | September 2008 | October 2008 | December 2008 | January 2009 | February 2009 | March 2009 | May 2009 | June 2009 | July 2009 | August 2009 | September 2009 | October 2009 | November 2009 | December 2009 | January 2010 | February 2010 | March 2010 | April 2010 | May 2010 | June 2010 | July 2010 | August 2010 | October 2010 | November 2010 | December 2010 | January 2011 | February 2011 | March 2011 | April 2011 | May 2011 | June 2011 | July 2011 | August 2011 | September 2011 | December 2011 | February 2012 | May 2012 | July 2012 | August 2012 | March 2016 | April 2016 | June 2016 | November 2016 | December 2016 | March 2017 | May 2017 | June 2017 | August 2017 | August 2021 | October 2021 | May 2022 | December 2023 | May 2024 | Atom feed
© 2005 hundred percent gambling