If school concerns, for example, were addressed by churches, perhaps these concerns would not be the stalking horses
for gambling interests.
The difficulty with arguing that
gambling interests produce more social havoc than benefits is that it is an argument about happiness.
He wants to fight «in the open,» so that the public sees how money
from gambling interests lines politicians» pockets.
The report examines how the potential policy payoffs for Committee backers go far beyond casino gambling legalization, pushed
by gambling interests which were recently revealed to have given heavily to the Committee.
Though the coalition has not voluntarily release the names of its donors, it would be later revealed past donors included utility ConEd, a law firm Cuomo investigated as attorney general and along
with gambling interests.
I asked the AG about yesterday's NYT article, which revealed the administration had
encouraged gambling interests to contribute to the pro-Cuomo committee (to the tune of $ 2 million, as it turned out), rather than launch its own ad campaign.
A group closely allied with Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo received $ 2 million from
gambling interests last December as he developed a proposal to expand casino gambling in New York.
Updating a 2005 report called «Stacking the Deck,» Common Cause New York
says gambling interests have raised more than $ 3 million in less than three years, passing the cash along to elected officials and a series of pro-gambling groups.
«He said, «I'm not taking any money from
gambling interests now and I would urge the members to be extremely careful.
With the push to legalize casinos heating up,
gambling interest groups and their lobbyists in the last two years have given generously to legislators, Bill Mahoney of the New York Public Interest Research Group found.
The company represents
numerous gambling interests or communities that host gambling, such as Nassau Off - Track Betting Corp. ($ 96,000), Suffolk Off - Track Betting Corp. ($ 50,000), the Stronach Group ($ 110,000), GCI Technologies ($ 90,000) and Madison County ($ 60,000).
How about state Sen. John Bonacic last week shilling for
gambling interests before the chamber of commerce after taking an $ 11,000 campaign donation from the casino lobby?
Removing the ban as it appears will likely open a floodgate of political contributions from casino operators and other well -
heeled gambling interests should voters grant final passage of a constitutional referendum to expand non-Indian casinos this fall.
New York does not have the best track record with corruption to begin with, and influence from casino companies and
other gambling interests have proved for some especially troubling in previous years.
Meanwhile, deep -
pocketed gambling interests — including Caesar's and Jeff Gural — were passed over on bids to develop casinos in Orange County and elsewhere.
As The New York Times reported last night, $ 2 million in donations to the group came from
gambling interests in December, just a month before Cuomo made a formal push for an expansion of casino gambling in New York in his second State of the State address.
It was reported last year that the committee got $ 2 million from
gambling interests around the time Cuomo was preparing his statewide gaming plan.
Blowback over The New York Times» story that the Cuomo administration
urged gambling interests to donate to the Committee to Save New York is starting this afternoon.
Some legislators are concerned that the allure of money - both revenue for the state and campaign contributions from
major gambling interests - has effectively killed any debate about the impact of gambling on New Yorkers, especially as the state just recently allowed the construction of a number of casinos.
Coming in second was a coalition backed
by gambling interests that opposes casino expansion, which spent $ 1.47 million.
Pay - to - play: Common Cause paid close attention this year to
gambling interests as they won a ballot issue to allow non-Indian casino gambling in New York.
The Cuomo administration this afternoon released its 2,200 - word letter to The New York Times that had been sent in response to questions from the newspaper regarding its scoop that the group had received millions of dollars
from gambling interests.
The gambling interests would love to sell the idea that the church is playing «moral arbiter» and is telling these people what they can and can't do, like a sort of British nanny.
The gambling interests of Native American communities present another complex challenge to the antigambling coalition.
This position makes
the gambling interests nervous, because the Religious Right, with its moralistic opposition to gambling, might decide to criticize the Republican Party for yielding to the political influence of gambling money.
With the state capital besieged by criminal investigations, Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos has warned his members about taking campaign donations from
gambling interests.
And its provision has taken on all the more significance after the Committee to Save New York, a coalition of business interests aligned with Cuomo's fiscal agenda, was revealed to have received $ 2.4 million in contributions from
gambling interests.
The New York Gaming Association — a consortium of casino and
gambling interests — spread $ 226,250 in campaign contributions to a broad mix of state lawmakers and campaign war chests, their Board of Elections filing today shows.
Skelos spokeswoman Maureen Wren, too, declined to detail her boss's contact with lobbyists for
gambling interests, or to assess the influence they had on the Senate's apparent decision to support their cause.
The report shows the political campaign committees for the Assembly Democrats and Senate Republicans were the top recipients of
the gambling interests largesse, receiving $ 414,750 and $ 403,750 respectively.
Called New York Jobs Now, it is bringing together a coalition of casino supporters that have spending heavily on an ad campaign trying to influence the outcome: upwards of $ 2 million from
gambling interests and unions that would benefit from the amendment's approval.
Gambling interests have contributed a cominbed $ 3.2 million to political candidates and committees since 2011, an analysis from Common Cause released this morning found.
Funding the campaign are a variety of casino companies and
gambling interests, working through a coalition called NY Jobs Now.
The group is clearly not spending as much money as the pro-casino forces, which are propped by a coalition of
gambling interests both from here in New York and even Las Vegas, along with major labor organizations like the United Federation of Teachers.
The money from casino and
gambling interests is coming to the forefront as a new political action committee of business leaders, unions and politicians begins a push for the casino amendment.
The list of top donors to housekeeping accounts is dominated by special interests that are highly regulated and / or subsidized by state government: real estate firms, health - care and pharmaceutical interests, labor unions, telecom companies, the beverage industry, big tobacco and
gambling interests.
Scrutiny into the group intensified after news outlets reported that
gambling interests had donated millions to the group shortly before Cuomo unveiled a proposal to allow full casino - style gambling in the state.
The post comes around the same time its revealed that The Committee to Save New York received millions of dollars from
gambling interests.
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