The New York Times has been running a story series on how the lucrative gambling industry gained success both legally and financially through questionable activities.
The eye-opening news articles predictably caught of the attention of Les Bernal of Stop Predatory Gambling, who tells AFN the scheme is to woo the public to sports gambling and online gambling, too. The tactics, he says, raise all sorts of questions over the ethics of wealthy lobbyists mixing with influential politicians.
In a political fight in Kansas, Bernal says, a lobbyist threw money at lawmakers, poured money into political campaigns for Democrats and Republicans, and provided cigars and liquor to a powerful committee chairman.
If the gambling industry is spreading money around, and politicians are taking it, who is paying the price?
According to Bernal, it is the poor dreaming of being rich who waste money they can’t afford to throw away.
It is estimated, he says, that $1 trillion of personal wealth “will be lost to commercial gambling over the next eight years.”
