Sephus
07-11-2006, 06:12 PM
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Dear Senator Stabenow,
I understand that the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of which you are a member will likely take up the Senate bill to ban electronic funds transfers to and from gambling websites and the offshore companies like Neteller that facilitate such transactions. As you may know, HR4411 passed today, June 11.
I understand the desire to update old laws to make them relevant for today's technology, however I believe very strongly that it is unnecessary in this case.
Many of the supporters of HR4411 want internet gambling (especially poker, and excepting horses and lotteries) stopped because it drains money from the American people, sending it to the operators of the website. This it does, but Americans who choose to gamble online know that a portion of their money is leaving the country, and they decide that the enjoyment they get is worth it. It is not the place of the government to tell its citizens that they must not spend money overseas "for the sake of the economy." If the ban passes based on this argument, traveling abroad and buying imported goods should also be banned.
Others want online gambling stopped because they believe it preserves states rights to determine whether to allow gambling. Preserving states rights would be passing no law at all and allowing each state to ban online gambling if it chooses.
Still others want the ban passed because they believe gambling is immoral and self-destructive and want to limit it any way they can. In my opinion this is simply part of the attempt by the Republican Party to be seen as the "party of morality" and as such is primarily a bid to buy votes for the upcoming elections, not a response to the will of the people. I am deeply troubled by attempts by the government to tell adults what they can not do for recreation by themselves in the privacy of their own home.
It's true that some people abuse their freedoms and injure themselves, but we should not think that any freedoms with the potential to be abused should be taken away. The few people who choose to gamble irresponsibly should not "spoil it" for the rest of us.
Surveys have shown that a minority of the American people is in favor of a ban on internet gambling (34%). About the same oppose it (32%), and the rest have no opinion (34%)*. In fact, in recent years the social unacceptability of gambling itself has radically changed, and many fewer people see it as a dangerous vice as did in years past when laws against using a telephone to place a bet were passed. The law is not only obsolete technologically, it is obsolete socially.
Please oppose getting this bill to the floor, and if it does come to a vote, please consider voting against it and allowing the American people to enjoy their free time and money in any way that they see fit, so long as they don't restrict the freedoms of others.
*February 2006 Harris poll asked: "Currently, the only gambling operations on the Internet are run by offshore and international companies, U.S. companies are not allowed to have Internet gambling sites. Would you support or oppose banning gambling over the Internet in the U.S.?"
34% of those polled said support, 32% said oppose, and 34% said neither.
link to Harris poll (http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=641)
[/ QUOTE ]
Dear Senator Stabenow,
I understand that the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of which you are a member will likely take up the Senate bill to ban electronic funds transfers to and from gambling websites and the offshore companies like Neteller that facilitate such transactions. As you may know, HR4411 passed today, June 11.
I understand the desire to update old laws to make them relevant for today's technology, however I believe very strongly that it is unnecessary in this case.
Many of the supporters of HR4411 want internet gambling (especially poker, and excepting horses and lotteries) stopped because it drains money from the American people, sending it to the operators of the website. This it does, but Americans who choose to gamble online know that a portion of their money is leaving the country, and they decide that the enjoyment they get is worth it. It is not the place of the government to tell its citizens that they must not spend money overseas "for the sake of the economy." If the ban passes based on this argument, traveling abroad and buying imported goods should also be banned.
Others want online gambling stopped because they believe it preserves states rights to determine whether to allow gambling. Preserving states rights would be passing no law at all and allowing each state to ban online gambling if it chooses.
Still others want the ban passed because they believe gambling is immoral and self-destructive and want to limit it any way they can. In my opinion this is simply part of the attempt by the Republican Party to be seen as the "party of morality" and as such is primarily a bid to buy votes for the upcoming elections, not a response to the will of the people. I am deeply troubled by attempts by the government to tell adults what they can not do for recreation by themselves in the privacy of their own home.
It's true that some people abuse their freedoms and injure themselves, but we should not think that any freedoms with the potential to be abused should be taken away. The few people who choose to gamble irresponsibly should not "spoil it" for the rest of us.
Surveys have shown that a minority of the American people is in favor of a ban on internet gambling (34%). About the same oppose it (32%), and the rest have no opinion (34%)*. In fact, in recent years the social unacceptability of gambling itself has radically changed, and many fewer people see it as a dangerous vice as did in years past when laws against using a telephone to place a bet were passed. The law is not only obsolete technologically, it is obsolete socially.
Please oppose getting this bill to the floor, and if it does come to a vote, please consider voting against it and allowing the American people to enjoy their free time and money in any way that they see fit, so long as they don't restrict the freedoms of others.
*February 2006 Harris poll asked: "Currently, the only gambling operations on the Internet are run by offshore and international companies, U.S. companies are not allowed to have Internet gambling sites. Would you support or oppose banning gambling over the Internet in the U.S.?"
34% of those polled said support, 32% said oppose, and 34% said neither.
link to Harris poll (http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=641)
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