Online gambling a family affair

One of the trivia stories on online gambling in the United States this week names Sheldon Adelson’s latest lobbyist, Connie Mack of Mack Strategies and his former wife, Mary Bono Mack…both former members of Congress but now embroiled on opposite sides of the online gambling debate in America.

The duo, only the third married couple to serve together in Congress during their marriage, were divorced a year ago and went their separate ways in several senses of the word.

Mary Bono Mack, who has since dropped her married name, heads the Coalition for Consumer and Online Protection, in addition to her role as senior vice president of FaegreBD Consulting in Washington DC. The coalition supports the rights of states to make their own decisions on the legalisation of online gambling.

Her former husband’s lobbying company Mack Strategies was recently hired by Las Vegas Sands specifically to lobby for the Restoration of the American Wire Act, a federal bill seeking a ban on internet gambling, driven by South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham and Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz at the behest of Sheldon Adelson, the multi-billionaire owner of LVS.

Mack’s company joins a growing army of lobbyists hired by Adelson (at last count five different companies) working on behalf of the LVS banning attempt.

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