Reponses to my Fox column on Internet gambling were overwhelmingly positive. Granted, its a self-selecting, anecdotal, unscientific bit of evidence. But in that I got quite a few emails of the “if the GOP goes through with this, they’ll finally have lost my vote” variety, it was heartening. A sampling after the break.

I’m usually quite disdainful of anything coming from Fox News. I avoid the website as well, but found your story via Google News. I must say I was quite impressed with your piece. It sounds much less Republican and much more libertarian. Be careful, some of the powers that be might not consider it “fair and balanced”. Keep up the good work!

~

Thank you for your observations. Although I am a conservative on most issues, there are many areas I am beginning to make a break from my fellow Republicans. This is clearly one. Thank you for your story.

~

Your piece about the gop’s asinine stance on gambling is very poignant and well written. If the gambling firms were allowed in the US, the government could be making a fortune from taxation. Just another case of hypocrite legislators that constantly seek the next legislation fad in order to appear as if they have any interest in the real America and her people. I’m a conservative and I have nowhere to turn because the gop is so far out of touch with reality that I feel there is no hope left for our once great nation.

~

I just want to complement you on the best article I have ever reed on this issue – very well done.

Other unwarranted rationalizations besides Jack Abramoff are the assertions that Internet gambling is used for money laundering and puts families into bankruptcy. Although there may have been legitimate concern over such issues when he first introduced anti-gambling legislation many years ago, events in the interim have shown these concerns to be unwarranted. There has been few, if any, indications of money laundering, and few, if any, reported bankruptcies. Moreover, to the extent these problems may exist, they can best be addressed by regulation. Regulation would keep the criminal element out of the industry, and ensure appropriate oversight such as exists with U.S. financial institutions. Regulatory legislation could also provide that the credit debts associated with Internet gambling are unenforceable against the gambler, much as is the case today, where the operator or the acquiring bank bears the risk of loss when the gambler refuses to pay his credit card bill.

It’s nice to hear the voice of reason coming from you and Barney Frank.

~

How will Online Poker be affected? If the Republicans ban it, they lose my vote!

~

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You for bringing the issue of internet gambling to national attention. I’ve been opposed to government interference on the issue of gambling for quite some time now. I’ve always said that an American adult, living in what is suppose to be a free country, should be allowed to do in the privacy of his/her own home what they can do by simply getting on a plane and flying to Vegas or other gambling casino. Individuals are to be blamed for their own actions, so if adults spend all their money on gambling, so be it. If I work for my money, I pay for my home, and I pay taxes on my income and property, the government WILL NEVER tell me what I can and can not do with my money in my own home especially on an issue such as this that causes absolutely no harm to

ANYONE. WHAT THESE CONGRESSMEN WANT TO DO IS AN OUTRAGEOUS INVASION OF PRIVACY !!

~

I agree with you. I play online and it is my money, congress has no right to tell me how or what I can do with it.

I am a registered Republican and am quickly deciding to change becuase of this kind of stuff. How can we
lobby our Congress to change this?

~

Another good demonstration by example that the GOP is utterly corrupt from the shrub on down�

~

I agree with you without the political barbs. If seniors or whomever want to squander their hard earned cash betting on which cockroach reaches the bread crumb first then we should allow them to do just that, only don’t come to us for help after they crash & burn. Go live under the bridge with the roaches.

Lotteries are never going away. Bookies are here to stay, many years ago when I was 17 I worked summers in an office. Horse race betting was illegal in my state but most of the cool people called the bookie and placed bets. I finally did and won the daily double. When I went home and showed my dad the cash and told him what I’d done well let’s just say that was a Kodak moment”. Point is you cannot legislate how people choose to use their funds…..they will find a way to do what they want every time. Our legislators have bigger fish to fry right now.

~

I agree with you 100%. You need to get this message out.

~

Thank you for the insights and updates on the actions of our modern day inquisitors.

I am an internet poker player and I can guarantee you that the attempt to ban on-line poker will do as much harm to these idiots as anything GW Bush has done in both his terms. The Republican party has lost me, an active member for 40 years, and will drive me to the opposition in spite of the fact that they too disgust me in most of their feeble thinking.

~

Absolutely phenomenal op piece!!

~

BRAVO!

I sincerely wish these Capitol Hill folk would turn their dubious talents to solving problems not involving my personal choices.

And if gambling is to be their personal windmill, then let any legislation apply to ALL forms of gambling…casinos, church bingo, state lotteries, office pools, playing marbles for keepsies, ad infinitum. That should shut them up.

~

I read your article titled ‘GOP Misses Mark on Internet Gambling Ban’ and I couldn’t agree with you more. The vast majority of US Citizens know how to moderate their ‘vices’, and I’m one of them. For us, online gambling is entertainment. Most casual gamblers understand that it’s just entertainment and they treat it as an expense, just like any other entertainment.

I understand there are some who have gambling problems, and when that happens it is very destructive, especially to their families. But the answer for that problem is to get help for them. Not to outlaw the activity for the rest of us.

There are some people that become addicted to eating. They become obese and they become a burden to their families. Should we outlaw food? Or eating?

There MANY people addicted to television. They ignore their families to watch their shows. Their children’s homework goes undone, or without help.

They pass this addiction on to their children. They are jeopardizing their children’s future so they can see the next reality TV contestant. Should we outlaw TV? Shut down Hollywood? I would argue that the TV addiction problem is probably more than 10 TIMES worse than online gambling.

I play online poker. I have a few friends who also play. We all have families, and we are all very good family men. When I get home from work, I either cook dinner or help my daughter with her homework. We eat dinner together, and we talk about our days. We enjoy each others company. After dinner, I’ll clean up while my wife gets the children ready for bed. Then I’ll read bedtime stories. After that, most nights I’ll finish up with other responsibilities. Do laundry, take out the trash, do the bills, plan the children’s activities, etc… Any good parent knows exactly what I’m talking about. It’s 9 or 10 before I get to sit down. Then, most nights it’s lights out. But once or twice a week, I’ll get online and play a little poker once everything else is done. It’s my entertainment. Some would say that it’s taking money from the family. Well, first, I win, so that’s not the case. But even if I did loose a little, I don’t smoke. I rarely drink. I don’t pay for digital cable TV. This is my entertainment, and I budget for it. If I couldn’t afford it, I wouldn’t play.

That said, I think it’s a good idea to help folks who have a problem with gambling. I don’t think it’s the government’s responsibility to do so, but if they must, just think how much more they could do if they allowed the companies to operate here and regulated it? They could pay for government programs to help problem gamblers with the tax revenue. They could require the sites to report back to their patrons the amount they spend. They could take this same idea of regulating the ââ?¬Ë?Bet Placers’ by asking Banks and ISP’s to only work with US companies. I don’t necessarily agree with all of these regulations either, but I think it’s much more reasonable than their current approach.

The bottom line is ââ?¬â?? government should not punish responsible people to help the irresponsible. Laws are for protecting citizens. If what I do causes no harm to anyone, then I should be allowed to do it. Some would argue that my gambling hurts the families of those addicted to gambling by creating the environment necessary for their vice. That’s ridiculous. It’s like saying driving my car is creating an environment for drunk drivers to collide with me. The rest of us are driving responsibly. We don’t need to outlaw driving. If online gambling were regulated here, we could identify irresponsible gamblers and deal with them.

Well, sorry for the long winded email, but I wanted to let you know that I agree completely. I’d love to hear the arguments against your point of view. I don’t see how they could hold water.

One final thought ââ?¬â?? what can the average person do about it? Is there anything we can do to stop this legislation? I can’t imagine there will be much sympathy for us ââ?¬Ë?bad’ gamblers.

~

I am a fat, booze swilling poker player who blows somewhere between $100 and $300 a month on Poker, some in American Indian owned and other casinos, and some on-line (although on occasion I have actually won, which was reported to the IRS by the casino and duly taxed). Some times I play golf at a nice course that costs me $100-$200 for 4-5 hours of entertainment. That’s what poker and golf are for me, entertainment. There are people that have a gambling problem, but 99.9 percent don’t. I also know people with a golf problem that spend $500-$3000 on golf per month with nothing productive to show for it.

I am sick and tired of congress spending their time, that I pay for (my tax money) to deal with one-tenth of one-percent of the world with a problem, that on an individual basis, the individual should be responsible for. For God’s sake if you regulated and taxed on-line gaming in the US how much money could be generated to rescue Social Security, or help with medical care for the estimated 20 % in need, or help the one-tenth of one percent with a gambling problem?!!! (or, for congress to squander in some other fashion). Let me make it clear that I’m not a heavy supporter of Social Security or the socialized medicine mechanisms currently in place, they are just examples of where the gaming generated tax $’s could go.

I believe that US legalization and regulation of online gaming would be a good thing, in-part because I don’t trust the operators as they aren’t properly regulated.

~

Any gambling is a sin against God and a deteriorating factor to our countries social fabric.

~

Fantastic editorial. Down with fascist nanny organizations the don’t even pay taxes.

~

Excellent article. Either they should leave gambling alone or regualte it.

I don’t understand why they want to waste time and money on trying to stop something that won’t be stopped.

Adults should be able to gamble online if they want to.

Nice article.

This entry was posted on Friday, March 17th, 2006 at 1:07 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under Gambling and Poker, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.