If there are any soap opera writers out there looking for a new show arc, hop on this story. A little over a year ago Representative Connie Mack and Mary Bono Mack, who now goes by her maiden name announced they were getting divorced, after being only the third married couple to ever serve together in Congress. Now the former pair has found themselves at cross purposes again, with both Mack and Bono working to lobby on opposing sides of a controversial gambling bill.
Two months ago Mary Bono became the head of the Coalition for Consumer and Online Protection, in addition to her role as senior vice president of FaegreBD Consulting here in Washington. The coalition was built to oppose a proposed bill to ban online gambling, which is backed by billionaire Republican donor and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
Meanwhile, Bono's former husband Connie Mack, who heads his own lobbying firm, Mack Strategies, has just been hired this week by Adelson's Las Vegas Sands Corporation, to push for the passage of the Restoration of America's Wire Act. So far Adelson has spent $200,000 on lobbying in 2014 to see the ban on online gambling pushed through.
While getting these two legislative heavyweights involved has taken the fight over online gambling to a new level, Bono and Mack are hardly the only forces working to push their gambling agenda.
The National Association of Convenience Stores recently launched a new PR campaign asking lawmakers to support online gaming ban. Specifically, corner stores are concerned about people buying lottery tickets online for out of state games, and as a result not buying that impulse candy bar in store when they come in to pick out their weekly numbers.
On the flip side, the American Gaming Association has been a big supporter of the proposed Restoration of America's Wire Act, claiming that online gambling could give casinos a huge revenue boost. A recent national survey conducted by the association has found that most Americans view casinos as any other local business, and 57 percent are okay with gambling in general. The AGA has spent over $365,000 on lobbying this year.
