Inside Asian Gaming

July 2016 inside asian gaming 9 which includes the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Indian Gaming Commission – an independent federal regulatory agency that operates within the department. “Under Clinton, the Interior Department will look favorably on Indian gaming and Clinton’s policies will favor Indian issues generally,” says Mr Klebanow. “It makes a difference,” adds Mr Rocha. “We have a history of working with Hillary and Bill Clinton was president during an explosion of tribal gaming. The Clinton administration was a great ally … but as I say, we’ll work with whomever. I’ve worked with several presidents and I see how the tribes respond to the changing of the guard. We’ve been around forever. We’re used to this.” So far in the 2015-16 federal election cycle, 14 of the 20 largest gaming industry contributors to all campaigns have been Indian tribes. “THEY VOTE, THEY BREATHE” The appointment powers of the president are not limited to the departments of the government but extend to federal judgeships – including the justices of the US Supreme Court – and the office has amassed over the years a vast array of administrative and executive powers. Taken together with the president’s control over foreign “A degree of consistency within the Republican Party … does not exist right now with Donald Trump. Presumably, as a businessman, he understands their concerns. But are they able to trust him? The concern is not only whether he’s a Republican, but whether he even knows himself what he is. We haven’t exactly seen a lot of policy statements.” Bernie Sanders policy and his power to deploy the military, it vests the office with a decisive say in matters of international trade, war and peace. But it’s still Congress that controls the purse strings and makes the laws – and there are issues the industry knows are critical to its future. Among them are repealing a nationwide ban on sports betting, tribal-labor relations and online gambling – or from Mr Adelson’s perspective, its prohibition – all of which will be decided on Capitol Hill. Paul DeBole, an assistant professor of political science at Lasell College in Massachusetts who writes and speaks frequently on gaming issues, says, “When you’re talking about power, it’s Congress.” And that’s where the big gaming money is going – more than US$13 million to date spread among partisan advocacy groups known as political action committees, to party committees and to the campaigns of individual candidates. The split is even more closely divided than in the presidential race – currently 51% Republican and 49% Democrat, according to the Center for Responsive Politics – and that’s not surprising given what’s at stake. The GOP commands a 60-seat majority in the House which has enabled it to block any legislation it doesn’t like, but it cannot control its own far right wing so even proposals it does like go nowhere. As a result it’s been legislative paralysis through most of the Obama presidency. “They’re all jockeying for power. They can’t get out of their own way,” says Mr DeBole. “You’ve got 435 members who can’t agree today is Tuesday.” Where this gets interesting is that the entire House is up for re- election in November – all 435 seats. Control of the 100-seat Senate has been more fluid. Republicans hold a nine-seat majority, but they have the most to lose in November: 24 of the 34 seats up for grabs are theirs and the loss of just four or five of them will be enough to turn the upper chamber Democrat. Mr Adelson, the 15th richest person in the country, does not want that to happen. “Which goes to the question of what kind of election we’re having – what effect would a Trump presidency have and what effect his