Deep Throat: Follow the money.
Bob Woodward: What do you mean? Where?
Deep Throat: Oh, I can't tell you that.
- All the President's Men
Would it surprise you that Harrah's Entertainment ranked #13 on Bill Frist's list of top campaign contributors' for most of the 1990s? Nah. The way hypocrisy is running rampant in the halls of the United States Congress today, it wouldn't shock me if I found out that Dennis Hastert was running a whorehouse out of the Republican cloakroom.
After reading that statistic (thanks Drizz!), my curiosity was peaked. So I decided to take a look and see which other proponents of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act (H.R. 4411) were stuffing their pockets with the gaming industry's money.
At least 7 of the top 20 recipients of campaign contributions from the gaming industry for the 2006 election cycle voted FOR H.R. 4411 including the following hypocrites representatives:
Frank Pallone (D-NJ)
Rick Renzi (R-AZ)
J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ)
Charles Taylor (R-NC)
Tom Cole (R-OK)
Dennis Rehberg (R-MT)
Bennie Thompson (D-MS)
Thompson's vote is perhaps the strangest, as he is also a co-sponsor of H.R. 5474, which instead of a ban, calls for a more reasoned study on internet gaming. Thompson represents the 2nd district of Mississippi, including casino hotspot Tunica.
So who, pray tell, makes up the gaming industry lobby?
At the top of the list is MGM Mirage, who shipped 68% of their political dollars to Republican candidates, primarily through individual contriubutions.
The #3 slot belongs to the National Thoroughbred Racing Assn., the horse racing industry's top trade association. Think a bigger, badder, more organized PPA for racing enthusiasts. With all the money they dumped into the Republicans' pockets, is it any surprise that the horse racing carve-out stayed in the bill? These guys have their shit together. They even have a strategic plan.
#4 on the list are the guys who can't count chips correctly-- WSOP ownersHarrah's Entertainment, whose donations split almost evenly between Democrats (48%) and Republicans (50%). You'd think they'd try and better protect the cash cow that is the World Series of Poker since its growth and survival is predicated on Harrahs' ability to keep funneling in online qualifiers to their tournaments.
Though if our resident Shrink's conspiracy theories are right, there could be a whole other sinister layer to the potential Harrah's buyout.
