RumPuncher
10-03-2006, 02:31 PM
a news report:
Who says you can hope only to block gambling expansion, not to roll it back?
One of the most egregious forms of gambling took a body blow over the weekend. House
and Senate conferees attached an Internet gambling ban to an unrelated port security
measure on Friday and passed the combined measure overwhelmingly on Saturday,
September 30. The port security measure was far from a perfect bill, but we can take
great satisfaction from the Internet gambling ban.
This development came suddenly, and is somewhat surprising. Earlier, proponents had
been attempting to attach the Internet provision to the Department of Defense funding
bill. The change in strategy apparently occurred on Friday.
The Internet gambling ban creates some real enforcement teeth by barring banks and
other financial institutions from facilitating the practice through credit cards and similar
financial instruments. No money, no betting.
The new measure is incomplete in that it does not extend the Wire Act to cover Internet
gambling, and in fact fails to apply to all the forms of gambling that the Wire Act applied
to; there are carve-outs for horse racing and lotteries.
That limitation aside, this is a serious step against a form of gambling that otherwise had
the potential to become even a greater problem to our communities than casinos.
Unchecked, Internet gambling could effectively bring a casino into every home, make it
available to teenagers, and keep it open 24/7.
wow..... good thing people are deciding what's right for the American people and slipping it through congress.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/30/AR2006093000024_pf.html
House and Senate negotiators reached agreement last night on legislation to tighten maritime and port security regulations and, in a last-minute move, added an unrelated measure that seeks to ban Internet gambling.
At the same time, House negotiators prevailed in their fight to strip out $4.5 billion in rail and mass-transit security funds included in the Senate provision.
The port security and Internet gambling legislation was approved 409 to 2 in the House and on a voice vote in the Senate early today, as lawmakers rushed to leave Washington for their fall reelection campaigns. Senate Republican and Democratic leaders announced it would be passed by voice vote after the House's late-night vote.
Who says you can hope only to block gambling expansion, not to roll it back?
One of the most egregious forms of gambling took a body blow over the weekend. House
and Senate conferees attached an Internet gambling ban to an unrelated port security
measure on Friday and passed the combined measure overwhelmingly on Saturday,
September 30. The port security measure was far from a perfect bill, but we can take
great satisfaction from the Internet gambling ban.
This development came suddenly, and is somewhat surprising. Earlier, proponents had
been attempting to attach the Internet provision to the Department of Defense funding
bill. The change in strategy apparently occurred on Friday.
The Internet gambling ban creates some real enforcement teeth by barring banks and
other financial institutions from facilitating the practice through credit cards and similar
financial instruments. No money, no betting.
The new measure is incomplete in that it does not extend the Wire Act to cover Internet
gambling, and in fact fails to apply to all the forms of gambling that the Wire Act applied
to; there are carve-outs for horse racing and lotteries.
That limitation aside, this is a serious step against a form of gambling that otherwise had
the potential to become even a greater problem to our communities than casinos.
Unchecked, Internet gambling could effectively bring a casino into every home, make it
available to teenagers, and keep it open 24/7.
wow..... good thing people are deciding what's right for the American people and slipping it through congress.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/30/AR2006093000024_pf.html
House and Senate negotiators reached agreement last night on legislation to tighten maritime and port security regulations and, in a last-minute move, added an unrelated measure that seeks to ban Internet gambling.
At the same time, House negotiators prevailed in their fight to strip out $4.5 billion in rail and mass-transit security funds included in the Senate provision.
The port security and Internet gambling legislation was approved 409 to 2 in the House and on a voice vote in the Senate early today, as lawmakers rushed to leave Washington for their fall reelection campaigns. Senate Republican and Democratic leaders announced it would be passed by voice vote after the House's late-night vote.