Poker Votes Count November 7- Bust the Republicans Out!

Monday - November 06, 2006
Some analysts say that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which President George W. Bush signed into law October 13, poses little threat to Republicans, calling it a relatively minor matter to most voters in Tuesday`s November 7 elections, adding that they anticipate that online gamblers will not come out in large numbers when it comes to voting.

"I don't believe a large volume of voters are motivated to go to the polls because of Internet gaming, either way," said Brian Darling of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington think tank.

The 8.5 million voting aged Americans affected by the UIGEA annually spent about $6 billion (4.7 billion euros, or 7 billion pounds) last year to gamble online.

The Republicans are trying to hold onto their majority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The Democrats could take a majority in the House by gaining 15 seats, and in the Senate with six more seats. All 435 House seats are on Tuesday's ballot, and 33 of the 100 Senate seats are.

Other analysts say that UIGEA has infuriated many voters who enjoy online poker, gambling and sports betting. So UIGEA may add to the dissatisfaction with the Iraq war, budget deficits and a sex scandal involving teenage congressional assistants, and could make voters vote anything but Republican.

"I've been a loyal Republican for over 30 years, and I'm quitting the party I once loved," said Jim Henry, 55, who lives outside San Francisco. "Not because of the Mark Foley scandal or Middle East policy. But because the Republican Party wants to stop me from what I love to do: play poker over the Internet."

Recall that the UIGEA, while not changing any laws about players gambling online, does make it illegal for banks and financial institutions to handle transactions to online poker and gambling sites from American residents.

The UIGEA was sponsored in the House by Republicans Jim Leach and Bob Goodlatte, and backed in the Senate by Majority Leader Bill Frist, also a Republican. Hours before Congress adjourned for the election recess, Frist appended the UIGEA onto the Safe Port Act.

Many who supported UIGEA did so because they disapprove of gambling in any form. Leach cited moral dimensions to the law, calling it one of the most important pieces of family legislation ever considered by lawmakers.

"Internet gambling is not a subject touched upon in the Old or New Testament or the Quran," Leach said earlier this year. "But the pastoral function is one of dealing with families in difficulty and religious leaders of all denominations and faiths are seeing gambling problems erode family values."

Many critics pointed out that this is odd for a bill that explicitly exempted several forms of online gambling (effectively making them legal), in a country where 48 states (all but Hawaii and Utah) have some form of legalized gambling, where 42 states have lottery monopolies, and 34 states rake in part of the take from casino gambling, slot machines or video poker. A great number of writers and bloggers say this may be hypocrisy at its finest hour.

Others see a political component to UIGEA`s passage, believing it was intended to buoy support amongst religious conservative voters for Frist, should he decide to run for president in 2008.

Other critics question the protectionism by existing horse betting and State Lotteries interest groups. The World Trade Organization (WTO) case brought by Antigua and Barbuda against the United States for protectionism is certainly gaining steam. Antigua has been cultivating support from the U.K. whose Gambling Act legalizing and regulating online gambling comes into effect 2007.

U.K.`s culture secretary Tessa Jowell likened the passage of UIGEA to the stupidity of prohibition, as did the witty George Will.

On the edge, some Bloggers have asked whether contributions from companies with live casinos to Republican campaigns such as Frist`s were done with an eye toward low cost entry into a disrupted online gambling industry, since millions of value were lost from publicly traded companies such as Party Gaming and 888 Holdings when they stopped doing business with Americans who previously had made up to 50-75% of their customer base.

Hopefully if you are eligible to do so, you will vote in elections Tuesday November 7 to express your view. Each vote counts, so be sure you vote!