2. According to Forbes, Adelson is the 8th richest man in America. He is also the self-proclaimed "richest Jew"in the world.
3. He made his fortune in the casino biz and he is the CEO of the Las Vegas Sands corporation.
Campaign finance experts indicate Adelson's individual contributions are among the largest in American history. Should we care? Hell yes.
I acknowledge the fact that there is likely no getting the money out of politics, but I don't accept that the first amendment protects the rights of individuals, corporations, and unions to make UNLIMITED donations in support of a single candidate. But, that's the law since the Supreme Court handed down a ruling known as "Citizens United" in January 2010.
This landmark judicial decision prohibits government from putting limitations on "independent" campaign spending, meaning people and corporations cannot dump their cash directly into a campaign's coffers, but they can contribute whatever they want to a candidate's Super PAC. Super PACs, which are legally unaffiliated with formal campaigns, often operate for the sole purpose of supporting a single candidate, and they are typically run by political operatives who are former employees of a candidate's campaign team.
The "Citizens United" ruling overturned decades of campaign finance law, and blew a giant hole in the structure that existed to ensure singular donors, individual or corporate, did not wield undue influence in the political process.
