Skip to comments.
Bennett Admits Losing 'A Lot of Money'
Yahoo ^
| July 25, 2003
Posted on 07/26/2003 8:49:33 AM PDT by Liz
WASHINGTON - Family values advocate William Bennett rejects reports that he lost $8 million at casinos over 10 years but acknowledged it was "a lot of money."
"Maybe not too much, given what I made, but too much given who I am and what I do," the former education secretary said. "I think it was just best to call it quits."
In an interview to be aired Saturday on CNBC's "Tim Russert" show, Bennett said he was never a gambling addict, and that his history of betting shouldn't diminish his credibility.
"I'm not a hypocrite," he said. "I never got on the soapbox about gambling."
Bennett, who was education secretary under President Reagan, drug policy director for the first President Bush (news - web sites) and author of "The Book of Virtues," swore off casinos in May following stories by Newsweek and The Washington Monthly that detailed his gambling.
The magazines cited internal casino documents showing Bennett to be a "preferred customer" in at least four casinos in Atlantic City, N.J., and Las Vegas.
Bennett said the amount of his losses is nobody's business.
"It was a high level, was a lot of money," he said, and "counting up, has made a difference in our lives."
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: billbennett
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20, 21-27 last
To: Lysander
It has something to do with the PH levels to get a sweet playing pond... right?
21
posted on
07/26/2003 10:08:57 AM PDT
by
Bluntpoint
(Not there! Yes, there!)
To: swarthyguy
Hillary will be the best President ever because she swept with the worst.
She will not make the same mistakes.
Same logic.
22
posted on
07/26/2003 10:15:54 AM PDT
by
Bluntpoint
(Not there! Yes, there!)
To: Bluntpoint
swept = slept
23
posted on
07/26/2003 10:22:43 AM PDT
by
Bluntpoint
(Not there! Yes, there!)
To: Liz
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.........NOT
24
posted on
07/26/2003 10:40:43 AM PDT
by
shadeaud
(Liberals suffer from acute interior cornial craniorectoitis)
To: Liz
Family values advocate William Bennett rejects reports that he lost $8 million at casinos over 10 years but acknowledged it was "a lot of money."Bennett's first statement about his losses when this story came out was that he came out "pretty close to even".
Lying about gamblng losses is still lying.
25
posted on
07/26/2003 11:25:59 AM PDT
by
Ken H
To: shadeaud
I wonder if Bennet has a case against them for violation of his confidentiality and /or right to privacy. Somebody obviously deliberately leaked confidential data. Do high rollers sign agreements w/ casinos?
26
posted on
07/26/2003 12:34:09 PM PDT
by
Liz
To: Liz
Given the smarmy tone of his little morality books and how he promoted them as holier-than-the-pope and the general theme of self-denial and self-control, this explanation sounds like a big ol' lie.
Just because it was legal doesn't mean much. If he'd been a heavy drinker or smoker, that would have been legal too, just like the gambling.
Bennett, a has-been moral hypocrite. He'll never publish again unless it's a book about his gambling addiction. He's going to wish he had that $8 million back in his pocket, I think.
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20, 21-27 last
Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson