Sheldon Adelson, Mitt Romney and Buying Elections

On the right side of this blog, you'll find a lengthy list of categories, including Sheldon Adelson and Las Vegas Sands.

Below, is an email about Mr. Adelson's largesse, but the generous campaign $$$ raise grave concerns about whether this is a "Get Out of Jail Free" election, well worth every contribution. 

Sheldon Adelson's shady dealings bring one question to mind: Is he trying to corrupt Washington?

If you haven't heard of Sheldon Adelson, here's the scoop: The billionaire mogul and his wife are the largest donors to Mitt Romney's super PAC, Restore Our Future.[1]
At the same time, Adelson's behemoth company, the Las Vegas Sands Corp., is under investigation by the FBI, the Justice Department, and the Securities and Exchange Commission for possibly buying off Chinese officials to build a gambling empire in Macau that made Adelson one of the richest people on Earth.[2]
It's not hard to connect the dots between Adelson's money and Romney's candidacy: Shortly after meeting with Romney,[3] Adelson made a $10 million contribution to Romney's super PAC. And Adelson could win big with a Romney administration if it swept away investigations while rolling back the laws that are a problem for Adelson's company in the first place. That's corruption, plain and simple.
As article after article alleges serious potential wrongdoing from Adelson and his corporate pals, we have the power to shine a bright spotlight on Adelson's dirty money that Mitt Romney's team is benefiting from to win this election. It's up to us as progressives to take a stand against the money in this race, and we're starting with Romney and his super PAC.
Tell Mitt Romney and his super PAC Restore Our Future to give back any money received from shady billionaire Sheldon Adelson.
Adelson is a man bent on doing everything he can to distort the political process to fit the interests of his corporate bottom line.
His spending has granted him special access to Romney. He even appeared at the potential president's side on his recent trip to Israel.[4]
Beyond direct influence in the presidential race, Adelson has given or promised at least $35 million more to far-right-wing groups like Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS and other groups tied to conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch.[5]
And does Adelson show any signs of stopping his crushing influence over this election? No: "As long as it's doable, I'm going to do it," he said.[6]
But as long as we can still do something about it, we must work together to counteract his influence and educate the country on where Mitt Romney is getting his biggest backing.
Sign the petition today. Tell Mitt Romney and his super PAC to reject and return any money they received from Sheldon Adelson.
The corporate forces unleashed by Citizens United are hard at work to take over our democracy. But if we stand together, we can fight back -- and win.
Thank you for uniting as a progressive,

Russ Feingold
Founder
Progressives United

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1. Open Secrets: "Restore Our Future Summary"
2. New York Times: "Scrutiny for Casino Mogul's Frontman in China"
3. Christian Science Monitor: "Mitt Romney's other Vegas meeting: why Sheldon Adelson trumps The Donald
4. Bloomberg: "Sheldon Adelson: Romney Tour Star"
5. Huffington Post: "Sheldon Adelson To Lavish $71 Million In Casino Money On GOP Super PACS, Nonprofits"
6. Forbes: "Adelson's Pro-Romney Donations Will Be 'Limitless,' Could Top $100M"