Internet gambling again in play

[Grand Slam]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...020602190.html

Poker lobbyists are ramping up an aggressive push backed by millions of dollars to legalize Internet gambling in the United States this year, hoping to overcome passionate objections from social conservatives, sports leagues and other longtime opponents.

Partly bankrolled by offshore gambling companies, the campaign has already persuaded the Obama administration to delay enforcement of a 2006 law cracking down on Internet wagers.

Rep. Barney Frank (Mass.) and other Democrats are using the six-month reprieve to push ahead with legislation that would legalize and regulate poker, mah-jongg and other online betting games -- pastimes that have exploded in popularity in a country that accounts for more than half of the $16 billion global Internet gambling market. The federal government, which rarely prosecutes online gambling, would net billions of dollars in tax and licensing revenue if it were legalized, proponents say.

The legalization push has alarmed the National Football League, Focus on the Family and other Internet gambling opponents, who say that online betting would encourage criminal activity, threaten children and dramatically increase gambling addiction. Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) has placed a hold on six Treasury Department nominees to retaliate for the delay in the anti-gambling law, legislative aides said.

But those in favor are hoping with Congress in the hands of Democrats, who have historically been less opposed to gambling than Republicans, along with the growing popularity of recreational poker, that will work to their advantage. The list of backers includes Frank, a New England liberal who says the government should not bother gamblers, and former Republican senator Alfonse M. D'Amato (N.Y.), chairman of the Poker Players Alliance, which is leading the Capitol Hill push. With 1.2 million members, the alliance is funded largely by the Interactive Gaming Council, a Canada-based trade group for offshore gambling firms. Together, the groups have spent more than $4 million on Washington lobbying over the past year, and the alliance says its members have recently sent more than 300,000 mailings and e-mails to members of Congress.

[Red Tide]

In other words, we need more money from poker players to get this thing passed.

[Will Race For Food]

Article is largely a joke, I emailed eggen yesterday complaining.