Internet gambling outlawed in the USA

[Dom Tuk]

Bush has made it a crime in the USA to wire money over the internet into any gambling account. Why has he done this. why the urgency to stop gambling??. is it due to great swathes of addiction ro was he pandering to some religious lobbyists. How come his poodle is moving in the opposite direction and promoting a 24 hr drinking and gambling culture in the UK. I see no sense in either side.

[Llamatron]

I think the religous right have a bee in their bonnet about it.

That and the fact that most of the online gambling sites are based outside of the US, many over here in the UK.

Politicians in the US are even more in the pocket of big business than they are over here.

Democracy and fairness are dead.

[Lonnie]

Good for him, lets hope we follow suit.

[Clanad]

Some knowledge of how new laws are proposed and passed in the U.S., might ameliorate some of the constant criticism of President Bush (although I doubt it). Laws can only be proposed by the U.S. Congress. Either house can propose a law, which is sponsored by one or more Senators or Representatives. If it has enough interest, it goes to an appropriate committee. If it comes out of committee it then must be reconciled with the non-proposing house. If it passes all that, it goes to the President's desk for sign or vetoing. The President doesn't pander to any lobbyists, since they cannot lobby him as the Chief Excutive. All laws come from the Congress of the U.S. As an aside, a nearby State from where I live was one of the first to engage in a statewide and then a National Lottery. Twenty years ago, that State had one agency to deal with compulsive gamblers... it now has 33. I personally know of several people whose lives have been totally destroyed (along with their familes) by gambling...

[LazyGun]

I also read somewhere that several of the US states were concerned about the loss of tax revenue from instate casinos, riverboats etc, since all the gamblers were staying home and gambling online :)

[WaldoMcFroog]

There's a piece about this in the Grauniad a week or so ago and according to that it is apparently a concern about the money going outside the USA being promoted as a concern about gambling addiction.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1888741, 00.html

[Clanad]

Not to take issue with a U.K. news source, Waldo the article omits some information neccessary for a full understanding of gambling or gaming here in the U.S. The largest number of casinos nationwide are a fairly new phenomena; Native American owned and operated casinos. These are not regulated by the U.S. or State governments, yet those finding themselves in jeopardy due to compulsive use of the gaming become the problem of the tax payers through Human Service agencies. Outside of Las Vegas, Atlantic City and a few other such national gambling havens, by far the largest number of casinos are Native American owned...

[maxximus]

i think llamatron and lazygun aren't far from the truth, clanad you wouldn't be trying to mislead our friend waldo with regards to how laws are passed in the u.s. now would you? although in fairness your explanation is how it is supposed to work, but even you would have to admit it never has. native american owned and operated casino's are not regulated by u.s. or state run governments? i think you would be very hard pressed to find one that would agree with you on that. the president doesn' t pander to any lobbyist's? can you spell jack abramoff, i'm sure you must have heard of him? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4838792.st m the problem with u.s. politics is, that it gives the population the illusion they have a choice, but in reality the powers that be pad the pockets of both teams equally. it doesn't matter who gets elected the same crooks are always behind the scenes calling the shots. http://www.jackinthehouse.org/characters/index .php i assume by your posts you probably voted for bush, but like i said, what choice did you have, it wouldn't have mattered who won we'd still be in iraq. the soundtrack however would probably be slightly mellower. cheers!

[maxximus]

p.b.s. bill moyers- 'capital crimes' excellent documentary on the whole scandal.

[Clanad]

Be that as it may, maximmus, that's exactly the way it works... one of the few things Bush hasn't been accused of is involvement with the Abramhoff affair... at least not yet. There's no evidence at all that the internet gambling law recently passed by a large majority of both House's had any backing or prodding from "the religious right"... it was added as addendum to another bill. I still believe in representative government and their have been numerous occassions where a massive change in representation has taken place due to the power of the vote held by the people. A little less cynicism might help you outlook... in my gnomic opinion...

[noxlumos]

America... land of the free... unless of course you want to visit Cuba, live safe in the knowledge that your neighbour doesn't have a ground to air missile in his potting shed, or gamble online.
This absurd bit of legislation has personally cost me about one quarter of what I was worth before it took place so forgive me if I can't refrain from being a tad irked, both at my personal financial loss and at the loss of freedom for the people who are, did I get this bit right clannad, trying to "impose" freedom and democracy on the rest of the world.
Oh my acheing sides, in your democracy you are not even "free" to make your own decisions on what to do with your own money. He'd have done you more of a favour in the interests of the national good,if he'd shut McDonald's down, not much danger of that though really is there?

[Clanad]

I've conducted an assiduous search for a coherent line of thought in your usually succinct post, noxlumos. but I have failed. This law wasn't accomplished in secret... no vernissage here, since it had the backing of a majority of both Houses as well as the President's signature. Had the sponsors known of your financial concerns and plight, I'm sure they wouldn't have been in such a gadarene rush to engage in this picaresque action... in my opinion...

[noxlumos]

My line of thought is simple to follow Clannad, the US Govt far from liberating people with this legislation ( saving them from themselves if you like) is just curtailing their freedom to gamble online with their own money. It's the ironic lack of freedom in a country that prides itself on being free that really gets up my nose if you really want to know, and the utter hypocrisy that you can go and blow your house in Vegas because that's money staying in the States, but God forbid you send $50 a week over here with a bit of an online flutter. NOW do you see what my problem is with this legislation?

[maxximus]

no, the bill was not passed in secret, as you say. it was added to a port security bill that is supposed to be helpful in preventing another 911 type of event, which no one would even think about voting against. as it was rushed through at the last minute before they all take their 6 week break to sling mud at each other while trying to get re-elected. now i would bet, a lot of them were not even present and of the ones that were, i would also bet, half of them did not even read what the were voting on, democracy in action. not being as scholarly as yourself, i have to admit, i had to look up the definition of a couple of the words you used. but what word would you use for this? i apologize if i appear too cynical for your faith in the system but i have been witnessing this type of underhanded crap all my life, so in a way i have turned watching it into sort of a hobby. anyway cheers!

[Clanad]

I have to admit, noxlumos, that I was unware that a law passed in the U.S. could have such profund effects on a citizen of the U.K. I'm sure there must be many laes passed in your country with which I disagree, but that's your choice. Are there no other on line gambling outlets? And maxximus, I disagree with many of the aspects of our government, but it's the only one we have... and I do believe they were fairly elected so we have no one to blame but ourselves if we are unhappy. I find it unique that, even with recent scandals here, polls show that most citizens are happy with their own representatives and probably wouldn't vote them out. I'm not sure how a rather innocous question such as this turned into another anti-American, anti-religous and anti-Bush rant... but that's the way it is... surely, there must be something we do right and beneficial...