What I do not get is why these Republicans CARE about gambling, internet or not?
What is the ISSUE for them, that they feel the need to legislate here?
They're hooked, man. Probably in ways we can't understand. Democrats had lots of support from Vice in South Carolina, for instance. The head of the DNC was the lawyer for the gambling lobby. And gambling is more respectable to admit to than porn.
What is the ISSUE for them, that they feel the need to legislate here?
It's all about the corruption.
Pretty much all of the big internet poker sites are located offshore, so the politicians weren't getting their usual pound of flesh in the form of bribes and kickbacks from the industry.
That's why you can still bet on horse racing over the internet, and why Indian casinos have sprung up across America like weeds (everyone knows who Jack Abramoff is after all).