Corruption: “Pay to Prey”
Casino Interests are the Most Powerful Political Force in America Today
Six out of ten of the top funders of political causes nationwide are casino interests, according to analysis of the 2007 and 2008 cycle by the Center for Responsive Politics For more information about how much money gambling interests spend to influence our political process, please visit the Center for Responsive Politics at OpenSecrets.org and see their Influence and Lobbying section as well as their National Donor Profiles section.
“Let Us Buy the Vote!”
The massive expansion of predatory gambling over the last twenty years came as the result of gambling interests spending hundreds of millions of dollars under the guise of “Let the People Vote.” What they really meant was “Let Us Buy the Vote!” In 2008, nine states considered whether to replace declining revenues with money from predatory gambling. “Never a Sure Bet,” a report from the National Institute on Money in State Politics, examines the money behind these ballot measures. Gambling proponents significantly outraised opponents in each of the states they were successful in, ranging from about 2 to 1 in California to 1,734 to 1 in Colorado. An examination of the business sectors behind the measures shows that Indian casino tribes gave $157.4 million, more than half (57 percent) of all the money. Non-tribal gambling interests were the next-largest donors, giving $104.5 million (38 percent). Combined, these interests gave 96 percent of all money raised around the measures.
Never A Sure Bet Report from National Institute on Money in State Politics
Alabama Gambling Bribery Scandal
In October of 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice indicted eleven people in Alabama accused of involvement in a gambling vote-buying scandal. The Justice Department unveiled an indictment accusing the owners of two of Alabama’s largest casinos, four state senators and several lobbyists of a scheme to buy and sell votes in the Legislature. One defendant has pleaded guilty to offering a senator $2 million to vote for a bill to keep the state’s bingo machines operating. Below is a press release from the Justice Department, a copy of the indictment and a list of those indicted.
U.S. DOJ Press Release Alabama Gambling Vote Buying
Alabama Gambling Vote Buying Indictment
List of Indictments in AL Gambling Vote Buying Case
Predatory Gambling Has More of a History of Corruption Than Any Other Business
In the wake of the October 2010 indictments of four State Senators, Gary Palmer of the Alabama Policy Institute wrote about the historical connection between the legalization of gambling and government corruption. He quotes former U.S. Senator Paul Simon of Illinois who declared predatory gambling “…has more of a history of corruption than any other industry.”
Alabama Policy Institute – Elections or Indictments
Corruption at Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board
In a scathing 102-page report, a state grand jury in May 2011 slammed the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board as a patronage-filled, secretive agency that failed to safeguard the public by inadequately investigating casino operators and vendors, and succumbing to political pressure.
Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board Grand Jury Report