Last week I wrote an article on why I believe Republican Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist from Tennessee has killed the anti-internet gambling bill by taking it from a single piece of legislation (H.R. 4411) and tying it in to the Defense Department authorization bill. It’s my opinion that while that bill may pass, the part of the bill which mentions internet gambling will be taken off in argument before it hits the floor for a vote. Even politicians have to realize that internet gambling has nothing to do with the defense of the United States. Perhaps I have too much faith in politicians having logic?

I keep finding others which disagree with my point of view. Which is fine obviously, the world is made up of people with different opinions. It's just that my opinions are the right ones, and everyone else is wrong. Unless, of course, they aren't.

According to a lobbyist interviewed by EOG the bill should pass. "Disguised in a huge defense bill, do you want to try and be the one guy to hold up a litany of programs for troops and weapons because there is a small (and trust me, this is a small thing in the big scheme) provision in it about online gambling? Absolutely not. Granted, this isn't a spending bill (which is even more necessary) but it is still a bill that is very hard to oppose on extraneous merits."

"Sorry I can't give you more than that, but this is a hard one to analyze. I really think this is bad news."

Alan Baum, spokesman for the internet gambling industry stated, "We have reached out to our customer base, which is largely US customers, and asked them to not vote for Senators or any congressmen who support such archaic laws."

"We will follow up in October by furnishing all of these customers with the names of each politician who voted in favor of the Internet gambling bill.

Baum added, "our mailing list is quite extensive alone, but with the cooperation of three other online sports books, we have reached over two hundred thousand voters this week. We also understand that the Poker alliance has assisted in a telethon Tuesday, but we think this will have a greater impact."

"Furthermore, we asked each of our customers to tell one Friend or family member about what is going on at Capitol Hill. Together, we might not be able stop the bill from passing this year, but we will make a difference in November to some who don't recognize the number of Americans who love to gamble online, whether it be Poker or on their favorite sports team."

"Our customers understand quite well that Frist is on a crusade for his own personal agenda. It takes a lot of chutzpa to allow state lotteries and horse racing to conduct business online, but outlaw other forms of competition."

There are a few online gambling lobbyists in the US. The Poker Players Alliance had a phone in, where people from all over the US called their local Senators office and requested that they vote against the anti-internet gambling legislation. According to their website, the phone-in was a success. Michael Bolcerek, the President of the Poker Players Alliance writes, "I want to thank all members of the Poker Players Alliance and other poker players who called into our ”Phone March on Capitol Hill”. It was a great success!"

"Your calls were well received by your Senators, and help me as I look to individually meet with Senators to ask them personally to oppose this Poker Ban."

I thought Frist's website would mention more about internet gambling. As he plans to piggy-back the online gambling issue with the Defense Department authorization bill it would make sense if he correlated the two issues in a speech, or mention them together on his site. Instead he places internet gambling with health issues in his Floor Speech on September 5th. "We need to continue securing America's health by bringing Health IT legislation to conference. And we must continue to secure America's values by promoting sound government. That begins with fulfilling our constitutional duty of advise and consent by bringing more judicial nominations to the floor for confirmation." He brings in gambling here, "And it continues with addressing internet gambling. As it is now, this industry threatens to undermine the quality of life of millions of Americans by bringing an addictive behavior right into our living rooms."

That was it. The House of Representatives wanted this to be a major issue. Internet gambling had taken down their leader Tom DeLay and the House intended to pay back the favor. However, the Abramoff scandal barely touched the Senate, so they have no grudge to bear. Abramoff was a Republican lobbyist found guilty of bribery and fraud. Some of his backers were off-shore gambling organizations, some were Indian casinos.

People are assuming that the anti-internet gambling legislation will pass because it is connected to a Defense Department bill. However, the bill still needs to go up for argument, and as so many of these bills have before, it will most likely be changed before going up for a vote. I don't believe that the anti-internet gambling portion of the bill will remain by the time it is up for a vote. I think this bit was added on to sooth the tempers of the House and to be used as a bargaining chip for something else.

It's like the sixteen year old asking their parents for a motorcycle when they want a car. You ask for the tattoo first, then the motorcycle, then the cheap used car up the street. By the time they get to the car, it seems small and inconsequential to what they did ask for. This addition to the Defense Department bill is like that. At least, I hope it is like that. My job depends on it. I don't speak Chinese. But then that's a different article altogether.

Posted on: September 18, 2006

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