# Sheldon Adelson: is he Romney's "bankroller"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 30, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheldon-adelson-is-he-romneys-bankroller/629847 "2012-07-30T14:01:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheldon-adelson-is-he-romneys-bankroller/629847/61 "2012-08-03T03:36:19Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Give 'em all equal shares of free airtime and ban any other advertising; problem solved. How do you define “any other advertising”? Serious question BTW. Is a documentary entitle\* Hillary: The Movie\* a form of advertising? How about another documentary called\* Fahrenheit 911\*? Members of a group distributing “voter information cards” to people highlighting the stances of political candidates on a number of different social issues? A group taking out radio ads criticizing the voting record of a sitting Congressman up for reelection? Another group handing out pamphlets criticizing a Senator up for reelection who voted for bills they disagreed with? An Op-Ed printed in the New York Times talking about what an asshole Mitt Romney is? A skit on Saturday Night Live watched by millions of people ripping into a political candidate? A popular blog read by countless people endorsing one political candidate and laying out a coherent argument as to why people should vote for and support that political candidate? I ask, because there’s no consistent agreement on what does and doesn’t count as “advertising” or to use the jargon from the McCain-Feingold law struck down in Citizens United, “electioneering communications”. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheldon-adelson-is-he-romneys-bankroller/629847/62 "2012-08-03T03:36:35Z")
> [@PrettyVacant](#): > > Is that how it works in the USA; you distort a statement into something the person didn’t come close to saying, and then ask a question based on the distortion - what are you, aged seven again? Go away - no one needs puerile intellectual dishonesty. It’s embarrassing. **PrettyVacant** , you can’t insult other posters in this forum. Don’t do it again. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheldon-adelson-is-he-romneys-bankroller/629847/63 "2012-08-03T15:55:02Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > It allows the protesters to speak Yes, they just are restricted in their choice of venue. As Citizens United were. Edit: > [@Ibn Warraq](#): > > How do you define “any other advertising”? If I were in the US, I’d recommend adopting the same standards as the UK. Far less is spent on elections per capita here, as far as I’m aware. Billboards are permitted, documentaries are not censored, but political parties don’t rely on effective frequency for advertising to work. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheldon-adelson-is-he-romneys-bankroller/629847/64 "2012-08-03T17:39:29Z")
The government claimed the power to ban books. If BCRA had limited the FEC to only censoring the airwaves, the law would have probably stood. Corporations could still influence elections, but since the rules were unclear and they had to seek permission to speak beforehand, Kennedy ruled that it created a chilling effect on speech. Protesters know that they will have a place to protest. Wanting to create electioneering communications and not knowing what you can and can’t do beforehand is a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheldon-adelson-is-he-romneys-bankroller/629847/65 "2012-08-03T21:57:07Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > He wasn’t called a Jewish-American. The Guardian article does indeed call him a “Jewish-American.” I certainly can’t remember ever seeing that locution used in the US, but perhaps it’s common in the UK. It’s not common here to hyphenate religious, as opposed to ethnic, extraction. (I know that “Jewish” can be regarded as an ethnicity for some purposes, but it’s basically never done in the US in this context). ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheldon-adelson-is-he-romneys-bankroller/629847/66 "2012-08-04T11:01:21Z")
Well, we’re in agreement there then adaher. Pamphlets, billboards, books and documentaries, I have no real beef with (nor can I think of a solution to advocacy masquerading as news other than challenging them on false claims or more public channels). I think the majority of expenditure is on television advertising and I think that’s where the pervasive effect of money on politics is felt most by the electorate. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2012, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheldon-adelson-is-he-romneys-bankroller/629847/67 "2012-08-04T11:05:15Z")
Ads are all over Youtube, but the government better not muck with the internet. I think at this point the well has been too poisoned for Kennedy to approve anymore restrictions, unless Congress does something really bold, like ban political TV ads entirely. Keep candidates off the airwaves too. Let people go to the internet or gasp! read a newspaper or book. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheldon-adelson-is-he-romneys-bankroller/629847/68 "2012-08-05T16:58:07Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Ads are all over Youtube, but the government better not muck with the internet. Campaign law isn’t necessary for that, people can just download adblock. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2012, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheldon-adelson-is-he-romneys-bankroller/629847/69 "2012-08-05T17:09:37Z")
Does it work on youtube? ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2012, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheldon-adelson-is-he-romneys-bankroller/629847/70 "2012-08-06T11:24:40Z")
As far as I know, yup. There are a few websites which can circumnavigate it though, like 4oD. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sheldon-adelson-is-he-romneys-bankroller/629847.md?page=3)