Las Vegas Democrat Calls New Gambling Bill a ‘Ridiculous Abuse of Power’
The internet gambling act is a federal act meant to protect the nation’s ports. The Act was deemed an absolute necessity in the fight against terrorism, and as Congresswoman Shelley Berkley said, how does a politician in an election year vote against port safety? They don’t, not even Berkley, a Las Vegas Democrat who called the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) an invasion of our privacy and it takes away our citizens’ rights. What could be a greater invasion of privacy than government telling you cannot play Internet poker in your own house? she said. This was a breathtaking abuse of exercise of war power.
She has further stated that The ban on Internet gaming was part of the Republican family values agenda. They passed it to pound their chests and talk about how they’re protecting America’s youth, Berkley said. You got a bunch of ideologues running Congress. They’re not interested in anything that has a modicum of common sense; they’re only interested in a very narrow moral position.
Other critics have also blasted the morality issue being waved by the Republican politicians when on-land gambling continues to the vast majority without criticism from the same politicians on American soil, saying that the Bill just simply is not about moral issues but about America, as the politicians like to express it: the USA loses billions of dollars to companies not based in America. These critics state that such moves are against free trade and freedom of choice as well as an invasion of personal privacy.
Berkley’s Congressional district includes a greater part of Las Vegas, and her ties to the casino industry are as a former vice president of government and legal affairs for the Sands Hotel. She’s one of the few politicians who spoke out against Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist’s attempt at getting the Act attached to a major defense spending bill. Frist initially failed, but succeeded later in the week at the last minute in the session before Congress broke for a long election-year recess.
Berkley’s statement about Frist’s first attempt: A ban on Internet gaming in the Defense bill? How ridiculous is that? At a time when we have brave American men and women fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Republican leadership is more worried about Americans playing poker online than protecting our troops in the field. Although the Act is considered a partisan bill, the fuel that ignited the issue in Congress came from Republican conservatives and traditional, conservative organizations.
Berkley and four other Congress members introduced legislation in 2003 to explore ways to tax and regulate online gambling, a move which the American Gaming Association had supported. That bill stalled and only managed some discussions and press releases.
Berkley does not support the Ban on Internet gambling and states that there is no reason why the United States should not tax and regulate the online gambling industry, even though supporters of the Act say it’s impossible to do so. Representatives from the federal government testified at the House Judiciary hearings that the US does not possess the technology to tax and regulate online gambling. Berkley believes is untrue and states: I believe we now have the software available to make sure than that we can figure out whos 21 and above. We can regulate it, we can monitor it. Theres no reason at all to ban it, she says.
The UK may prove her right. In 2007, the UK will allow online gambling companies to re-locate there and offer their services to the world. They will be joined by more than 80 countries that tax and regulate online gambling, including Australia, Denmark, France, and Germany.
Berkley also encourages online poker fans, the hardest hit American citizens, to let politicians know how displeased they are at their actions, and maybe change the course of the country and states that its not too late to act against it.
You make sure your member of Congress knows that you are opposed to the ban on Internet gambling, she said. Believe me when I tell you, we count the number of calls we get.
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