How a Lobbyist Stacked the Deck [1]
Submitted by Sheldon Rampton [2] on
The Jack Abramoff [3] lobbying scandal continues to unravel. In a page one story, the Washington Post shows how Abramoff helped eLottery, a company that sells lottery tickets online, defeat the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act of 2000 by paying a coalition of Christian and other conservative groups to oppose the bill on the grounds that it would promote gambling. Dirty tricksters include Ralph Reed [4], former head of the Christian Coalition [5], the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon [6] of the Traditional Values Coalition [7], anti-tax conservative Grover Norquist [8], Robin Vanderwall [9] of the Faith and Family Alliance [10] (currently serving a seven-year prison term for internet solicitation of sex with minors). The Post report also notes the role of Matthew Blair, a freelance lobbyist working for the Shandwick Worldwide [11] PR firm, who tried to get Florida governor Jeb Bush [12] to sign a public letter opposing the anti-gambling bill. (When Bush refused, Blair forged Bush's signature and sent out the letter anyway.)