sync0s
Well-Known Member
MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) A Las Vegas billionaire has contributed $5 million to an independent group backing Newt Gingrich, bolstering the former House speakers efforts to revive his presidential campaign and drawing renewed attention to the role of such groups in the 2012 contest.
A person familiar with the development said Sheldon Adelson, a casino mogul and longtime donor to Republican candidates, made the contribution Friday to Winning Our Future, a super PAC run by Gingrich allies.
The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity and was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said Adelson is expected to contribute as much or more to groups backing the Republican nominee, be it Gingrich or one of his rivals.
Rick Tyler, a former top Gingrich strategist and spokesman for Winning Our Future, declined comment on the donation, which was first reported by The Washington Post.
A 2010 Supreme Court decision easing restrictions on corporate and individual spending laid the groundwork for these political action committees, or super PACs, which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections as long as they do not coordinate directly with a candidates campaign.
The identities of those who contributed to super PACs in the second half of 2011 wont be reported until the end of January.
Many donors names will never be known. Some super PACs have established nonprofit arms that are permitted to shield contributors identities as long as they spend no more than 50 percent of their money on electoral politics. Crossroads, the giant conservative outfit tied to former George W. Bush political adviser Karl Rove, operates both a super PAC and a nonprofit.
Crossroads and other Republican-leaning super PACs played a significant role in the 2010 midterm elections, helping deliver the House to the GOP and boost the number of Republicans in the Senate. The 2012 contest is the first to test the influence of such groups in presidential politics.
No candidate has seen his fortunes affected by the emergence of super PACs more than Gingrich.
Riding high in polls just a month ago, he became the target of a $3 million advertising barrage sponsored by Restore Our Future, a super PAC supporting Mitt Romney run by several of the former Massachusetts governors allies. The ads, which pounded Gingrich for his ties to federal housing giant Freddie Mac and his reversal on issues such as climate change, sent his political fortunes plunging in Iowa. Gingrich finished fourth in the states caucuses last week.
Romney and Gingrich tangled over the role of super PACs in a nationally televised debate Sunday. Romney said he had not seen Restore Our Futures ads but defended their content.
Governor, I wish you would calmly and directly state it is your former staff running the PAC, Gingrich said to Romney, warning his own allies would be on the air soon.
Gingrich has pledged to carry on and is hoping to resuscitate his campaign in South Carolina, which holds its primary Jan. 21. With Romney heavily favored to win the New Hampshire primary Tuesday, his rivals are looking to slow his momentum when the contest moves to the South.
Several super PACs have already played a role in the Republican campaign. They include Make Us Great Again, a super PAC backing Texas Gov. Rick Perry; Our Destiny, supporting former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman; and the Red White and Blue Fund, which helped revive Rick Santorums campaign in Iowa and is running ads in South Carolina.
Hmmm, I wonder who this Sheldon Adelson fella is:
A June 2008 profile in The New Yorker detailed several controversies involving Adelson. In 2008 Richard Suen, a Hong Kong businessman who had helped Adelson make connections with top Chinese officials in order to obtain the Macao license, took Adelson to court in Las Vegas alleging he had reneged on his agreement to allow Suen to profit from the venture. While Suen won a $43.8 million judgement, Adelson's lawyers have vowed to appeal. Adelson faces another trial by three alleged "middlemen" in the deal who are suing for at least $450 million.[5]
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During the Suen trial Bill Weidner, the president of Adelson's Las Vegas Sands company, testified about a telephone conversation between Adelson and his friend then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay(R) about a bill proposed by Representative Tom Lantos(D) that would have prevented the US Olympic Committee from voting in favor of the Chinese bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics. A few hours later DeLay called back and told Adelson he could tell the mayor of Beijing "this bill will never see the light of day." The resolution did not pass. Adelson testified in court that the demise of the resolution "...resulted from the press of other legislation, (not from) a deliberate move by DeLay to help his benefactor.[SUP][5]
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The New Yorker article also described how Shelley Berkley, a Nevada Democratic Party congresswoman who had worked for Adelson in the nineties as vice-president of legal and governmental affairs, quoted Adelson as saying that old Democrats were with the union and he wanted to break the back of the union, consequently he had to break the back of the Democrats. The Boston Globe also noted that Adelson has "waged some bitter anti-union battles in Las Vegas".[SUP][5][/SUP][SUP][22][/SUP] Congresswoman Berkley also claimed in the New Yorker article that Adelson "seeks to dominate politics and public policy through the raw power of money."
More evidence of the hijacking of the political process.
