Last week, a group called Defense of Democracies let rip with a national ad campaign aimed at pressuring House Democrats (and targeting 15 in particular) to buckle and support the Senate's surveillance bill, which contains retroactive immunity for the telecoms. The ads ended by encouraging viewers to contact their representative and urge them to convince the House leadership to bring the Senate bill to a vote -- because "the law that lets intelligence agencies intercept Al Qaeda communications" has expired, "crippling" surveillance.
The group, other than denying that the telecoms themselves were behind the $2 million campaign, refused to disclose where the money had come from. But in the current issue of the National Journal (not available online), Peter Stone reports that Sheldon Adelson, the billionaire casino mogul, "chipped in much of the $2 million," citing "sources."
That's not all that surprising, since Adelson (with a net worth of $26 billion, Forbes' 12th richest person in the world) is a big backer of conservative attack groups. For instance, he's the big money behind Freedom's Watch, which reportedly plans to spend $250 million defeating Democrats this election.
That's not all that surprising, since Adelson (with a net worth of $26 billion, Forbes' 12th richest person in the world) is a big backer of conservative attack groups. For instance, he's the big money behind Freedom's Watch, which reportedly plans to spend $250 million defeating Democrats this election.
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http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/03/nj_casino_mogul_funded_antidem.php
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