Follow the Money

It sounds like a step in the right direction but I am not sure how practical it all is. Verifying where every dime comes from would be a problem. (I seem to remember recent contributions to Hillary Clinton from dubious sources - undocumented workers in a chinese restaurant making $1000 & $2000 campaign contributions.)

Casino bill targets big spenders
By Stephanie Vosk also by George Brennan
STAFF WRITERS October 21, 2007

Federal authorities have ordered the Mashpee Wampanoag tribal council to turn over all information about contributions to political candidates and committees.

The request is part of a deepening probe into tribe finances in the wake of chairman Glenn Marshall's Aug. 27 resignation, according to documents obtained by the Times.

Just who is giving political contributions — both for and against — legalizing casino gaming in Massachusetts is also an issue expected to be spotlighted this year as legislators on Beacon Hill gear up for the casino debate.

When individuals give contributions to legislators, it is often hard to tell who is connected to casino interests. A state representative is expected to file a bill this year that would make it clear to the public who is donating money to support or defeat the casino effort and which politicians are getting the most money.

The Wampanoag tribe spurred the gambling debate back to the forefront since receiving federal recognition in the spring.

This winter the debate is expected to intensify as the Legislature begins to consider Gov. Deval Patrick's plan to allow three commercial, resort-style casinos, the licenses for which would be put out to bid. The state's two federally recognized tribes would be given preference for those licenses. The Mashpee Wampanoag want to build a $1 billion Indian casino in Middleboro.

Since Patrick's plan requires legislative approval, casino backers are likely to target members of the House where an uphill fight is expected. The bill is expected to easily pass the state Senate.

The tribe, backed by casino investors since 2000, and its supporters have donated as much as $85,000 to campaigns since 2003, according to state campaign finance records.

Only someone who knows the players, their families and associates, would be able to calculate the total contributions to tribe members, their associates and others who would benefit if casinos are legalized.

Bill to force disclosure

The bill state Rep. Paul Loscocco, R-Holliston, plans to file would force anyone connected with a casino — by ownership, employment or through family members — to disclose that interest when making a political contribution.

"The problem as I see it is not that any legislator is corrupt, but there could be a perception of whether they are making decisions based on their constituents' interest or the interests of a very powerful lobby," Loscocco said Friday.

Though campaign contributions are public record — and easily accessible online — it is not easy to discern the connection between a group of donors who want the same legislative outcome. Those connections are often masked by the names of family members and associates, with varying addresses and occupations.

In the case of the Mashpee Wampanoag, donations are in the names of tribal associates such as lobbyist Stephen Graham, tribal council spokesman Scott Ferson, tribal council attorney William McDermott, and lobbyists James Morris and Robert Quinn, who represent the tribe. The position of these donors is easily discerned.

But then there are donations from Paula Marshall, Alycia Marshall and Evamarie Kidwell — former tribal council chairman Marshall's wife and children.

"It shouldn't be as hard as it is to find the connections between special interests' campaign contributions and their sources," said Pam Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause, a political watchdog group that supports campaign finance reform. "We need to have a better way of making all of this completely transparent."

Common Cause is considering whether to support Loscocco's bill.

"Certainly having more disclosure is important," Wilmot said. "Our initial concern is why this fight should be substantially more important than other fights."

It's not that casinos are the only special interest group that use campaign contributions to gain access to legislators, she said.

The amount of money gaming is expected to generate for the state — Patrick estimates $400 million a year for the three he's proposed — puts casinos in another league, Loscocco said.

A search of other contributions shows it's not just the tribe and their supporters whose connection to casino interests are unclear.

The Carney family, for instance, which owns and operates the Raynham-Taunton greyhound track, has tried for years to secure slot machines and is planning to bid for a casino license.

George, Christopher, Dennis, Heather, Kelly, Laetitia, Maura, Thomas, and Timothy Carney, all of whom are linked in some way to the greyhound park, have donated about $130,000 to state campaigns and committees since 2003, state campaign finance records show.

Christopher Carney alternately lists his occupation on his various campaign contributions as a self-employed attorney, the vice president of Carney Trucking, and the president of American Waste Services, among others, all while using the same Raynham PO box as his address. It is only after a more time-consuming analysis of the contributions that one finds Carney the track owner, Carney the attorney, Carney the trucking executive and Carney the waste services president are the same person.

Big names, big money

Some of the biggest names in casino gaming have either officially announced their intentions to bid on one of the three licenses the state would grant under the governor's proposed plan, or are part of the speculation.

"The problem is how we can get the best decisions out of our government, and that should never be based on how much money one side has over another," Wilmot said.

In Rhode Island last year, more than $10 million was spent on both sides of a referendum question that, if approved, would have allowed an Indian casino in West Warwick.

Among the biggest contributors of the anti-casino campaign were Sol Kerzner and Len Wolman, South African casino moguls who at that same time were inking a deal — worth hundreds of millions of dollars — with the Mashpee Wampanoag to build a casino in Middleboro. Kerzner and Wolman spent $2.6 million in an effort to also protect their investment in the Twin River racino — a race track with slot machines, in Lincoln, R.I.

Those contributions were made through a group called Save our State.

Loscocco said his bill would give voters confidence in the system and the debate.

"There's nothing like the bright light of disclosure to act as the best disinfectant," he said.