Follow the Money: Gambling, Ethics, and Subpoenas

Kindt, John Warren

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/16279 Copy

Description

Title

Follow the Money: Gambling, Ethics, and Subpoenas

Author(s)

Kindt, John Warren

Issue Date

1998-03

Keyword(s)

• United States
• Government
• Corruption
• Gambling
• Casinos
• Subpoenas

Abstract

"Since the Watergate era, when investigative reporters were advised to ""follow the money"" to find the facts, this principle has been reaffirmed several times as the mechanism for the fourth estate to scourge crime and corruption from government, lobbying activities, and the political process (Bernstein and Woodward 1975, 35). ... In 1995 in Virginia, a state with only some charitable gambling and a recently enacted lottery, casino proponents hired 48 lobbyists who represented practically every lobbying firm in the state capital in an attempt to prohibit any antigambling lobbyists from competing. ... The unlimited amounts of money available to the gambling industry would also corrupt the governmental system according to Nat Helms, a former high-ranking member of the gambling industry's 1994 campaign that brought video gambling machines to Missouri. ... Under the dominant influence of legislation proposed and even drafted by the gambling interests, during the 1980s and 1990s states not only legalized gambling activities but also legislated special economic and liability protections for the gambling industry that were unavailable to other businesses. ... The AGA's chairman, Frank Fahrenkopf, in addressing gambling industry leaders, has constantly extolled the political clout of the ""moral opponents"" of gambling and linked the NCALG to the Christian Coalition in an effort to raise millions of dollars for the AGA (which has approximately a $ 4.6 million budget, compared to just over $ 100,000 for the NCALG). ... With Gambling Study on Table, Las Vegas Hedging Early."

Publisher

The American Academy of Political and Social Science

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/16279

Copyright and License Information

Copyright (c) 1998 The American Academy of Political and Social Science

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