Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
Posted on 07/11/2006 2:03:12 AM PDT by freepatriot32
WASHINGTON (AP) - Gamblers who prefer their laptops to blackjack tables won't like what Congress is doing. On Tuesday, the House plans to vote on a bill that would ban credit cards for paying online bets and could padlock gambling Web sites.
The legislation would clarify existing law to spell out that it is illegal to gamble online.
To enforce that ban, the bill would prohibit credit cards and other payment forms, such as electronic transfers, from being used to settle online wagers. It also would give law enforcement officials the authority to work with Internet providers to block access to gambling Web sites.
Some opponents of the legislation say policing the Internet is impossible, that it would be better to regulate the $12 billion industry and collect taxes from it. The online gambling industry is based almost entirely outside the United States, though about half its customers live in the U.S.
Other critics complain that the bill doesn't cover all forms of gambling. They point to exemptions they say would allow online lotteries and Internet betting on horse racing to flourish while cracking down on other kinds of sports betting, casino games and card games like poker.
"If you're going to support legislation that is supposed to 'prohibit gambling,' you should not have carve-outs," said Andrea Lafferty, executive director of the conservative Traditional Values Coalition.
Other conservative and antigambling groups are supporting the legislation, sponsored by Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Jim Leach, R-Iowa.
John Kindt, a business professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who has studied the issue, calls the Internet "the crack cocaine" of gambling.
"There are no needle marks. There's no alcohol on the breath. You just click the mouse and lose your house," he said.
Congress has considered similar bills several times before. In 2000, disgraced lobbyist Jack Ambramoff led a fierce campaign against it on behalf of an online lottery company.
Online lotteries are allowed in the latest bill, largely at the behest of states that increasingly rely on lotteries to augment tax revenues.
Pro-sports leagues also like the bill, arguing that Web wagering could hurt the integrity of their sports.
The horse racing industry also supports the bill because of the exemption it would get. Betting operators would not be prohibited from any activity allowed under the Interstate Horseracing Act. That law written in the 1970s set up rules for interstate betting on racing. It was updated a few years ago to clarify that betting on horse racing over the Internet is allowed.
Greg Avioli, chief executive officer of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, said the mention of horse racing in the bill is "a recognition of existing federal law," not a new carve-out.
He said the racing industry has a strong future in the digital age and acknowledged the bill would send Internet gamblers to racing sites. "They'd return to the one place they can bet legally," Avioli said.
That's what some critics say is unfair.
"Somehow we find ourselves in a situation where Congress has gotten in the business of cherry-picking types of gambling," complained Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla. Wexler had tried unsuccessfully to include exemptions for dog racing and jai alai, both popular in Florida.
The Justice Department has taken a different view on the legality of Internet betting on horse races. In a World Trade Organization case involving Antigua, the department said online betting on horse racing remains illegal under the 1961 Wire Act despite the existence of the more recently passed Interstate Horseracing Act.
The department hasn't actively enforced its stance, but observers say it is possible the agency and the racing industry could face off in court in the future.
Regarding the House bill, Antiguan Finance Minister Errol Cort said Monday, "I'm very surprised and quite disappointed that the U.S. Congress would be pushing full force ahead."
Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., is leading support for the ban in the Senate. The issue has so far not been debated in that chamber this year.
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The bill is H.R.4411
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On the Net:
House: http://www.house.gov/
Online lotteries are allowed in the latest bill, largely at the behest of states that increasingly rely on lotteries to augment tax revenues.
The horse racing industry also supports the bill because of the exemption it would get.
yes the only thing better then small government republicans turning into nanny staters is hypocritical small government republicans using the full force of the federal government to destroy all of the competition of industries that give them lots of lobbyist money
ping
Libertarian ping.To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here
The Las Vegas line is 6 to 4 against it passing.
"Somehow we find ourselves in a situation where Congress has gotten in the business of cherry-picking types of gambling," complained Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla. Wexler had tried unsuccessfully to include exemptions for dog racing and jai alai, both popular in Florida.So while he's up on the ladder picking cheeries, he pauses for a moment to denounce cherry-picking. Are the rats even capable of hearing their own contradictions?
Don't our esteemed legislators have more important things to debate, like oh say flag burning for instance?
I'll take a piece of that! Put $20 on the gamblers' noses.
Once any institutionalized betting (even horses) is allowed, it's a question of "well, I know what kind of woman you are, we're only haggling about the price."
The handful of top horseracing sites pay state and federal taxes via their contracts with the individual tracks.
Organized crime never likes competition. Al Capone, Dutch Schultz, Bugsy Segal, John Gotti, The US House of Representatives and Senate...
Mark
This is an part of an ongoing effort to control the internet as a source of revenue. Ultra conservatives who think they are compelled to force a pre-determined future and liberals who want to tax everything so they can give it away to buy votes are closing the gap of freedom and turning us into a nazi (not necessarily Hitler-style) nation.
They despise free will and true diversity. Their aim is to
homogonize the population, disarm the population and
propagandize the population into a Euro-style nation.
This is being done at local levels by entering into partnerships with bordering towns in health districts, permit offices and other assorted entities. These towns are adjacent to larger cities with their problems who within 50 years will want to annex the smaller combines and take the tax revenue and expand city housing to the suburbs and rural areas. Already oldtimers many are selling out while they can.
With the nazi-style use of eminent domain the government chooses which business will succeeed and which will fail, meaning less choice - more 'government/favored business' monopolies.
And that's the true spirit of the nazi's -
Note the ongoing war against the American Indians and tobacco companies direct internet sales over taxes.
Note the restrictive change of rules for day traders which killed any opportunity for a fast profit. What would take weeks now has stretched into 10-20 years. Old money and old power rules the day.
The only people they can't control are the terrorists because they are armed, somewhat unexposed if not for their venture into technology and protected by governments that control their populations.
Because they can't handle them in short order, they are slowling eating away at our freedoms or they don't want to beat them fast in order to buy time to attack our freedoms.
The only ones of us who will be able to survive in comfort are those who made their money early.
None of the politicians is trustworthy and the population
is apathetic to force a ballot box revolution.
If what has been in the news about a Canada-USA-Mexico
merger us true as well, we're dead ducks again.
Evey soldier who ever died for this country will have died in vain.
I don't think I'll live long enough to see the worst to come but your kids will.
Me thinks you are right ... the monster of Big Government demands to be fed.
I'm so glad there's nothing more important going on in the world so congress can afford to spend time stopping their gambling donors from having any competition.
What could be more Nanny staish than using the government to kill your competition..........or protect people from themselves?
SHEESH........
LOL! You got it! There is absolutely no public welfare interest in wiping out online gambling. This is the pure and unashamed providing of service to casino interests who have paid huge campaign contributions (i.e. legal bribes) to get this done.
>>>The legislation would clarify existing law to spell out that it is illegal to gamble online.
Where do stocks and commodity futures fall into this definition?
Pay to play?
Looks like some congresscritters are going to bat for their mafia/corporate campaign donors. It's bad if you can click a mouse and lose your house. But it's fine if you fly to Vegas and lose the farm.
What idiots....
None whatsoever. Oh, wait----it's for the f&#^ing children...
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