Gambling With Young Republican Leaders
The Gambling Cartel: building inroads to young Republicans' minds.
Governor Kenny Guinn of Nevada and Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., President and CEO of the American Gaming Association, hosted a reception and fundraiser for the Young Republican National Convention (YRNC) on July 6, 2005, at Mandalay Bay Hotel/Convention Center in Las Vegas.
Participants sent their registration fees to YRNC 2005, "c/o Nathan Taylor," the chair of the YRNC, who allegedly embezzled $25,000 from the YRNC to pay off bar tabs, personal loans and credit card debts.
It seems appropriate that the YRNC 2005 fundraiser is being held in Las Vegas and that Fahrenkopf, the nation's highest paid gambling lobbyist, is YRNC's keynote speaker. Over the last decade politicians have become intimately connected to the gambling industry and its money. Add to this scenario the alleged YRNC-Taylor embezzlement, and the conference already smells like gambling.
Perhaps this summer's release of Star Wars Episode III has nothing to do with the YRNC fundraiser, but the film's message certainly exposes a poignant and parallel message: young leaders are vulnerable to the influence of wealth and power, all of which the gambling industry offers in surplus.
Frank J. Fahrenkopf Jr., a lawyer by profession, was awarded National Humanitarian of the Year Award from the National Conference on Christians and Jews in 1985. He served as chairman for the Republican National Committee during the Reagan administration, and Fahrenkopf currently serves as a YRNC Advisory Board Member. He is also a co-chair of the Commission of Presidential Debates. Not a bad record in the public square.
The Dark Side
In 1994, however, the Clinton administration proposed a 4-percent federal tax on gambling revenues to fund Hillary Clinton's health care reform plan. The startled gambling industry decided to hire the best highly connected Washington lobbyist money could buy, and Frank J. Fahrenkopf became casinos' new defender. With Fahrenkopf's expertise and the gambling industry's money, the gambling cartel defeated the federal 4-percent tax proposal.
The gambling industry set forth to establish a lobbying organization to dissolve any future threats. Fahrenkopf became the first President and CEO of the American Gaming Association (AGA) in 1995. Fahrenkopf's salary is $1 million or more per year. Of course, gambling in the United States is a$72.9 billion industry, so why count pennies?
Backed by the gambling cartel, Fahrenkopf is a political powerhouse, influencing congressmen for the cause of gambling — a trade considered by many to be predatory, self-serving, insidious and "dark."
Speaking of political influence, one of Fahrenkopf's daughters, Leslie Fahrenkopf, currently works in the Bush White House as an Associate Counsel in the Executive Office of the President — yet another thread in a thick political cloak adorning Frank Fahrenkopf, the Defender of Gambling.
On July 6, 2005, with slot machines ringing in the background, Fahrenkopf and Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn imparted their "wisdom" to young Republican leaders. The theme of this year's YRNC could have been, "Paving Inroads For Gambling." We can only hope these young politicians will question the ethics of exploiting human weaknesses for financial gain.
Pray our future leaders will discern the truth about gambling, and that young Democratic and Republican leaders alike will stand firmly against gambling's enticements, and for the preservation of American families. If a shift in political advocacy of the gambling industry does not occur soon, states and families will pay a heavy price.
Diane Berlin, vice chair of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling, commented on Pennsylvania's decision to legalize 61,000 slot machines:
"If all the Republicans in our legisature had opposed gambling, Pennsylvania wouldn't be experiencing the trauma of massive gambling expansion today. It's a tragedy on the largest scale. If 61,000 slots are allowed in the most historically significant state in our nation, Pennsylvania will never be the same again.
"Philadelphia, site of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Liberty Bell is to be the site of 10,000 slot machines with another 5,000 in nearby Bensalem. Is this what our founding fathers had in mind?"
More Political Power Plays
The American Gaming Association recently appointed Dorothy R. Jackson to serve as vice president of government affairs and join the AGA lobbying team. Jackson served as a senior professional adviser to former House Speaker Tom Foley, legislative counsel to Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Donald M. Payne (D-N.J.) and as chief of staff for three members of Congress.
Fahrenkopf said the AGA "worked closely" with Jackson for the past four years and she "Provided our industry with invaluable guidance on diversity and other issues that are top priorities for the African-American community." Jackson's responsibilities for the AGA include establishing working relationships with the Congressional Black Caucus, NAACP and other minority organizations.
Does Jackson know that, among African Americans age 65 and older, 17 percent are pathological gamblers and another 19 percent are problem gamblers?1 Economist Earl Grinols estimates that nearly 41 percent of casino revenues come from problem and pathological gamblers.2 Does Jackson want to help the gambling industry exploit more addicted gamblers, specifically elderly African Americans?
Young Democrats and Republicans need to know the facts — not the fiction or marketing tactics — about gambling. When state budgets become dependent on gambling revenues, and lobbyists have more say than legislators, government officials should be concerned. When men, women and children are exploited and families are destroyed, state and federal leaders need to pause. Good policy builds strong families, gambling does not.
The Gambling Lobby
- Frank Fahrenkopf lobbying
- AGA Lobbying Firms
- AGA Lobbyists
- Issues the AGA has lobbied (note taxation/IRS and bankruptcy)
- Who the AGA has lobbied
- See Gambling Companies and Organizations that are lobbying (trends for future gambling expansion)
- See which states the gambling industry is lobbying (states being pressured to expand gambling)
Endnotes:
1 M. Bazargan, S.H. Bazargan, M. Akanda, “Gambling habits among aged African Americans,” Clinical Gerontologist, 2000, Vol. 22, No. 3/4, pp. 51-62.
2 Earl L. Grinols, "Gambling In America: Costs And Benefits," (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 22.
If you enjoy reading stories like this one, sign up for the free CitizenLink Daily Update e-mail. You'll get news and commentary from Focus on the Family Action delivered right to your computer.
