GMO News Item 7-07

Support Grows For Legal Internet Gambling

Additional U.S. Congressional Representatives have signed on as cosponsers of the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007, which has been introduced as House bill HR 2046 by Rep. Barney Franks (D-MA). This bill, if it becomes law, will establish a means for the Federal and State government to regulate and tax Internet gambling (to include poker, Blackjack and "games of chance") as an alternative to the outright banning that most Republicans have supported over the years. The key word here is "if". Unfortunately, our U.S. Congress appears to be bogged down by political infighting, particularly over the Iraq war (which is completely understandable) and other issues like Scooter Libby's jail sentence - or lack thereof - which is a waste of time. This Congress was elected by the people who sent a very clear message: Clean the damn place up and get on with the country's business, because you may not get a second chance.

Of course the war in Iraq should have first priority - I have a very brave nephew serving there as I write this - but I firmly believe that Congress really can walk and chew gum at the same time, so they're capable of moving other legislation such as HR 2046. And that can happen if enough citizens let their Representatives know that it's okay to support this bill. I'm happy to report that my Representative, Russ Carnahan of the Missouri 3rd district, recently signed on as a cosponser. Below you'll see an updated list of representatives who are now supporting this bill.

COSPONSORS (26), ALPHABETICAL
Rep Ackerman, Gary L. [NY-5] - 4/26/2007
Rep Berkley, Shelley [NV-1] - 4/26/2007
Rep Berman, Howard L. [CA-28] - 6/7/2007
Rep Capuano, Michael E. [MA-8] - 4/26/2007
Rep Carnahan, Russ [MO-3] - 6/28/2007
Rep Carson, Julia [IN-7] - 4/26/2007
Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy [MO-1] - 4/26/2007
Rep Crowley, Joseph [NY-7] - 5/22/2007
Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51] - 6/7/2007
Rep Fossella, Vito [NY-13] - 6/15/2007
Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. [IL-4] - 4/26/2007
Rep Hastings, Alcee L. [FL-23] - 6/28/2007
Rep Israel, Steve [NY-2] - 4/26/2007
Rep King, Peter T. [NY-3] - 4/26/2007
Rep McCarthy, Carolyn [NY-4] - 5/22/2007
Rep McDermott, Jim [WA-7] - 5/24/2007
Rep McGovern, James P. [MA-3] - 6/7/2007
Rep Melancon, Charlie [LA-3] - 5/16/2007
Rep Paul, Ron [TX-14] - 4/26/2007
Rep Perlmutter, Ed [CO-7] - 5/24/2007
Rep Rodriguez, Ciro D. [TX-23] - 5/22/2007
Rep Sanchez, Linda T. [CA-39] - 5/17/2007
Rep Towns, Edolphus [NY-10] - 5/17/2007
Rep Watt, Melvin L. [NC-12] - 4/26/2007
Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 4/26/2007
Rep Young, Don [AK] - 6/27/2007

If your Congressional Representative is not on this list, email him or her and ask for their support. If you do not know who your representative is, go here: http://www.house.gov/ and enter your ZIP code. Each member of Congress has an email address; just send him or her a note expressing your support for HR 2046 and ask that they support it as well. I'm no political operative, but I have friends who are and they tell me it doesn't take a lot of voters to convince a representative that s/he should take a stand on an issue like this. Of course, it'll help if your representative is a Democrat, but the Republicans need to hear from us as well.

For what it's worth, here's the message I sent Rep. Carnahan: Thank you for becoming a cosponsor of HR 2046, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act. A lot of us voters out here are poker players and we feel regulation is the answer, not prohibition. We will be publicizing this widely, especially on the Internet as a responsible approach to the Internet gambling conundrum. Your support is greatly appreciated.

For more on this bill, go to: http://thomas.loc.gov/ Under "Search Bill Text", enter HR2046 as the bill number and a new page will appear with all of the information.

The GameMaster