John McCain's gambling addiction (and tax "issues" too")

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

When John McCain selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to be his running mate, the McMedia immediately began using gambling metaphors to describe his choice: John McCain is a "risk-taker," a "gambler" who "doubled down" and "rolled the dice" in anticipation that his "gamble" would "pay off."

This Los Angeles Times analysis today is representative of the commentary in the print and television media over the past 24 hours.  McCain's choice of Palin is a risk - Los Angeles Times:

Another Republican with close ties to the McCain campaign said Friday that the pick reflected McCain's penchant for going with his gut -- even if such gambles can lead him to the wrong choice. The Republican felt uncomfortable repeating talking points distributed by the McCain campaign, which argued that Palin's role as commander of the Alaska National Guard and her Army son's imminent deployment to Iraq makes her "ready to be president" and helps her "understand what it takes to lead our nation."

"This is a guy who takes big gambles," said the Republican, who requested anonymity when talking about McCain. "But we're talking about somebody who is 72 running for president, and I don't know if you gamble with those decisions, do you? It's not like he was 20 points behind."

The surprise pick underscored a go-it-alone style that often has alienated McCain's Senate colleagues -- and left them scratching their heads.

Patrick Buchanan at MSNBC described McCain's selection as the "biggest political gamble I believe just about in American history."

The McMedia's use of gambling metaphors is not by happenstance.  Many members of the McMedia have known for quite some time that Johnny "Mac Daddy" McCain has a serious gambling addiction for the craps tables and those tumblin' dice. (h/t to The Huffington Post for the dice graphic)

In 2000 (New York Times, Feb. 27), Maureen Dowd noted that Bush's "Pioneers" had invested "$800,000 for private detectives to hunt for McCain bimbo eruptions and to stake out casinos to catch him shooting craps."

In 2005, The New Yorker published a profile of McCain which contained this passage about his gambling habit Profiles: McCain’s Party: The New Yorker:

Many of McCain’s friends comment that he is far more serious and focused than he has ever been, and that they rarely see the McCain they knew—irrepressible, occasionally outrageous, impolitic.

But that character is not altogether obsolete. The moment the car stopped at McCain’s hotel in downtown New Orleans, he set out at his usual fast clip for Harrah’s, across the street. McCain is an avid gambler. Wes Gullett, a close friend who worked for McCain for years, told me that they used to play craps in Las Vegas in fourteen-hour stints, standing at the tables from 10 a.m. to midnight. “Craps is addictive,” McCain remarked, and he headed for the fifteen-dollar-minimum-bet tables. At the most obvious level, the game is incredibly simple—players rotate turns throwing the dice, and you either win or lose depending on what number comes up. But McCain’s betting formula makes it much more complicated. “Uh-oh!” he cried, as a player accidentally threw the dice off the table. “This is a very, very superstitious game,” he said. When his turn came to throw the dice, he picked them up and blew on them first. He had placed chips on the number 5, so (envisioning a combination of 2 and 3) he called, “Michael Jordan! Michael Jordan!”

Also in 2005, Women's Wear Daily reported on the American Magazine Conference, held at the Wyndham El Conquistador in Fajardo, Puerto Rico that October.  As part of his reporting on the conference, Jeff Bercovici wrote a column in which he gave out some tongue-in-cheek awards.  Bercovici singled McCain out for an interesting award:

Second-Best Bill Clinton Impression: John McCain. In the middle of a two-hour gambling session, the Arizona senator introduced himself to an attractive young brunette and invited her to join him at the craps table. He soon declared the woman, who was attending the conference on behalf of a Rhode Island-based technology firm, to be his lucky charm, and forbade her to leave while his winning streak lasted.

In 2006, there was this report from Independent Sources Breaking News: John McCain shooting craps in Las Vegas; Not good for the pass line bettor:

Those of you following 'SMS Dispatches from Las Vegas' already know that Senator John McCain walked up and joined a craps game at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas this evening with Stallion and Beng–friends of Hagar, our reality star, who is letting us follow him around his Las Vegas week-end via SMS dispatches. As Stallion and Beng waited for Hagar, Senator McCain joined them on a craps table that at times was quite hot. However, and unfortunately for all at the table, McCain’s Senatorial experience did not help him with his roll. He went down in two. (Damn those camera cell phones!)

Just last month, Time magazine (July 2, 2008) published this story, which was largely ignored by the McMedia Candidates' Vices: Craps and Poker:

McCain's passion for gambling and taking other risks has never been a secret...  He came of age on shore leave in the casinos of Monte Carlo, in a Navy culture that had long embraced dice in the officers' clubs.

* * *

Over time he gave up the drinking bouts, but he never quite kicked the periodic yen for dice. In the past decade, he has played on Mississippi riverboats, on Indian land, in Caribbean craps pits and along the length of the Las Vegas Strip. Back in 2005 he joined a group of journalists at a magazine-industry conference in Puerto Rico, offering betting strategy on request. "Enjoying craps opens up a window on a central thread constant in John's life," says John Weaver, McCain's former chief strategist, who followed him to many a casino. "Taking a chance, playing against the odds." Aides say McCain tends to play for a few thousand dollars at a time and avoids taking markers, or loans, from the casinos, which he has helped regulate in Congress. "He never, ever plays on the house," says Mark Salter, a McCain adviser. The goal, say several people familiar with his habit, is never financial. He loves the thrill of winning and the camaraderie at the table.

Only recently have McCain's aides urged him to pull back from the pastime. In the heat of the G.O.P. primary fight last spring, he announced on a visit to the Vegas Strip that he was going to the casino floor. When his aides stopped him, fearing a public relations disaster, McCain suggested that they ask the casino to take a craps table to a private room, a high-roller privilege McCain had indulged in before. His aides, with alarm bells ringing, refused again, according to two accounts of the discussion.

He clearly knows that this is on the borderline of what is acceptable for him to be doing," says a Republican who has watched McCain play. "And he just sort of revels in it."

So in summary, John McCain appears to be a compulsive gambler addicted to the craps tables, and he is a high-roller who plays (sometimes in a private high-roller room) for a few thousand dollars at a time for long stretches of time, up to 14 hours by one account.  (I wonder whether his fellow gambling addict William "The Bookie of Virtue" Bennett was present? "The Bookie of Virtue" by Joshua Green)

So does John McCain report his gambling winnings and losses on his federal income taxes one might ask? Well, others have been asking this very important question, but not members of our incurious McMedia in the "The John McCain Protection Society."

A Daily Kos blog post from July 7, 2008 posed the question Why has McCain NEVER reported winnings OR losses on his taxes? Following John McCain's release of his tax records earlier this year, this sharp-eyed blogger noticed that there was no IRS Form W-2G, which is used to declare gambling winnings.  McCain also never posted any winnings on line 21 of his 1040, or any losses on his Schedule A.

[T]he bottom line is still the same: If you are winning or deducting losses, you have to report this to the IRS and it looks like McCain has never reported ANY winnings or taken ANY deductions -- in spite of heavy betting over many years.

So as far as his federal tax returns go, John McCain never gambled (despite the evidence to the contrary). "JCHallman, a former craps dealer, recently wrote an excellent commentary about McCain, craps and the type of gambling going on.  Based on his experience, JCHallman suggests that if McCain is running marathon sessions on the 15 dollar tables on a regular basis, then he's easily betting thousands of dollars in each of these marathon sessions."  Nobody plays for hours to break even, so he is either winning thousands or losing thousands in each of these sessions."  Why has McCain NEVER reported winnings OR losses on his taxes?

Is John McCain gambling with his own money?  Or was he gambling with other people's money?  "In that case, he still has to file some paperwork.  And so do they.  According to IRS form W-2G

Signature. You must sign Form W-2G if you are the only
person entitled to the winnings and the winnings are subject
to regular gambling withholding.

Other winners. Prepare Form 5754, Statement by Person(s)
Receiving Gambling Winnings, if another person is entitled to
any part of these winnings. Give Form 5754 to the payer.

"If he is winning and not declaring -- that's a crime." Why has McCain NEVER reported winnings OR losses on his taxes? 

Moreover, Cindy McCain has refused to date to release her complete federal income tax returns.  "Does anyone know if she ever filed a 5754?  Is he hiding his winnings on her tax forms?  Is he burying his losses on her forms?"

If John McCain is gambling with other people's money, this also raises legitimate concerns whether the money is coming from lobbyists.  We know from The New Yorker profile in 2005 that McCain went on a 14 hour gambling binge with Wes Gullett.  Gullet is a lobbyist, and he once worked for McCain, both on the campaign trail and in the Senate.

So this is my challenge to the local yokel political reporters and other members of the McMedia: review John McCain's federal income tax returns carefully.  If he has not properly reported an gambling winnings and losses, this is a problem.  Demand that Cindy McCain release her complete federal income tax returns.  If "Mac Daddy" was gambling with his sugar momma's money, his gambling winnings and losses may have been hidden in Cindy's federal income tax returns to prevent public disclosure of the scope and extent of his gambling addiction in his tax returns.  If it turns out that "Mac Daddy" did not report his gambling winnings and losses in either his tax returns or Cindy's tax returns, then there is a big fat scandal to report.  Do your damn job!

"When it comes to picking the person who will have his finger on the nuclear button, we don't need a gambling man who loves to play craps--not when we are the stakes he is gambling.

No dice to a candidate who is so ready to roll the dice." Robert S. McElvaine: No Dice to a President Who Loves to Roll Dice

Comments

[Terry]

Back in my misspent youth, I spent a year dealing that wretched game at the Fremont Hotel in Vegas. Based on my experience, you can't beat the tables in the long run, so expecting St. John to declare winnings is probably a long shot. I'm not a tax expert, but it seems to me the IRS only allows losses as an offset to winnings, so probably no need to file.

[Christian Prophet]

What an amazing political season! Obama Democrats are ignoring all truth and attacking Sarah Palin like rabid dogs. Reason: she is more qualified than Obama. Read:
http://christianprophecy.blogspot.com/

[Mae Leister]

Just keep bashing women and you will loose my vote Axelrod-Obama!

I do NOT care how any individual makes his or her money in a free society ; just so it is legal and they pay there taxes.

Let me know how working for a POOR PERSON works out for you verses someone who has taken the time to build a business to employ people expanding the middle class and our tax base in America so Obama can take more of our money for himself to spread around to make himself look good!

Its NOT Obama's money he is talking about taking from the rich and giving to the poor; at least Cindy McCain has earned the money she is giving to the poor around the world!

[Zelph]

John McCain worked hard for his money. He made it the old fashioned way, he married it.

Cindy worked hard for her money too. She made it the old fashioned way, she inherited it.

At least Cindy's dad did something for all his millions. He was a good soldier for the mobster Kemper Marley and that's a dangerous job!

[martman]

You are right, John McCain could quite possibly suffer from a gambling addiction as demonstrated by his VP pick. http://gamblinganon.blogspot.com

[Jack Dawson]

Hi,
Back in my misspent youth, I spent a year dealing that wretched game at the Fremont Hotel in Vegas. Based on my experience, you can't beat the tables in the long run, so expecting St. John to declare winnings is probably a long shot. I'm not a tax expert, but it seems to me the IRS only allows losses as an offset to winnings, so probably no need to file.
______________________________________

Jack Dawson
Drug Rehabilitation Programs

[Gambling Addiction]

Gambling addiction can damage your relationships, obstruct with responsibilities at residence and occupation, and lead to economic disaster. You may think you cannot stop, but problem betting and gambling compulsion are treatable, if you are ready to admit yourself in rehab centers. You have a problem and you have to seek help, you can overcome your gambling problem and regain control of your life.
http://www.addiction-treatments.com/