Don't let your representative off the hook!

[Ignignokt]

They're all up for re-election. Go ask hard questions at public forums, work for their opponent, band together with other local players, and get out the vote!

The strongest possible message we can possibly send is to help get the Yes voters out of office.

Not saying that's gonna happen, but it's a great time to make your voice heard -- a time when the local media may even listen to you.

[djoyce003]

I just wrote mine informing him that he's lost my vote.
Good idea regarding working against him...I think i'll do exactly that.

[GTownPoker]

I have already informed my congressman (Harold Ford Jr - Memphis, TN) that he has lost my vote. He will be running for the Senate as a Tennessee Democrat in November. He never responded to my numerous communications and then voted in favor of the legislation today. Please, those of you living in Tennessee, do not vote for this man in November Unfortunately, the Republican alternatives do not appear too promising. I am in the process of contacting them to find out their opinions on this whole issue. I doubt that they will respond.

I have already begun contacting the congress hopefuls (replacing Ford) to guage their opinions before the elections. I doubt it will do much good now for congress but I want to make sure I vote for somebody that is willing to fight for what is right.

Thanks for allowing me to sound off. I told congressman Ford that I will be lobbying against him in any way I can.

[Ali shmali]

I just wrote Pearce this letter.

"Hi, i just moved to New Mexico. I've been playing poker for income for 3 years. It has paid my bills, my rent and given me enough money to fund my first year of College here at NMSU. I am registering to vote as soon as possible. I will put up signs for whoever your opponent will be in my front yard.

The gaming legislation makes ZERO sense and the proponents of this bill are hypocrites and moral tyrants. I watched you guys on C-span and I have no idea how anyone with half a brain would vote to pass this bill. Terrorist funding their operations through online gambling!!! OH MY GOD I sure hope you did not buy that ridiculous statement, or any of the other ridiculous statements being made in favor of this bill. Goodlatte and Leach have very little understanding of the gaming industry. Is congress generally this MISINFORMED on the issues they vote on? I certainly hope not.

Sincerely,

Alexandria Spargo"

[Ignignokt]

Nice.

[ QUOTE ]
I watched you guys on C-span and I have no idea how anyone with half a brain would vote to pass this bill.

[/ QUOTE ]

Every time I watch the House on C-span I get depressed for our country.

Fortunately the Senate is marginally more intelligent.

[pokerhooker]

Ali,

If the bill passes in the Senate and your livelihood is jeopardized, please know that you always have free room and board with me.

Sincerely,
pokerhooker

[alphatmw]

[ QUOTE ]
I just wrote Pearce this letter.

"Hi, i just moved to New Mexico. I've been playing poker for income for 3 years. It has paid my bills, my rent and given me enough money to fund my first year of College here at NMSU. I am registering to vote as soon as possible. I will put up signs for whoever your opponent will be in my front yard.

The gaming legislation makes ZERO sense and the proponents of this bill are hypocrites and moral tyrants. I watched you guys on C-span and I have no idea how anyone with half a brain would vote to pass this bill. Terrorist funding their operations through online gambling!!! OH MY GOD I sure hope you did not buy that ridiculous statement, or any of the other ridiculous statements being made in favor of this bill. Goodlatte and Leach have very little understanding of the gaming industry. Is congress generally this MISINFORMED on the issues they vote on? I certainly hope not.

Sincerely,

Alexandria Spargo"

[/ QUOTE ] ah, admitting you gambled underage. nice tactic. half your letter makes no more sense than saying "i paid for college by selling drugs and now you're making that illegal! jerk!"

[Ali shmali]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I just wrote Pearce this letter.

"Hi, i just moved to New Mexico. I've been playing poker for income for 3 years. It has paid my bills, my rent and given me enough money to fund my first year of College here at NMSU. I am registering to vote as soon as possible. I will put up signs for whoever your opponent will be in my front yard.

The gaming legislation makes ZERO sense and the proponents of this bill are hypocrites and moral tyrants. I watched you guys on C-span and I have no idea how anyone with half a brain would vote to pass this bill. Terrorist funding their operations through online gambling!!! OH MY GOD I sure hope you did not buy that ridiculous statement, or any of the other ridiculous statements being made in favor of this bill. Goodlatte and Leach have very little understanding of the gaming industry. Is congress generally this MISINFORMED on the issues they vote on? I certainly hope not.

Sincerely,

Alexandria Spargo"

[/ QUOTE ] ah, admitting you gambled underage. nice tactic. half your letter makes no more sense than saying "i paid for college by selling drugs and now you're making that illegal! jerk!"

[/ QUOTE ]

The bill has passed the house. Is there a point to making arguments to someone who already voted on the issue? The point of the letter WAS to be a bit.ch. I did not give ANY arguments against the bill so I have no idea how you think it makes no sense. You should be a congressman.

[Ali shmali]

and for the record I did not watch C-span and I have not been playing online poker for 3 years.

[Bilgefisher]

This deserves a healthy bump. Don't let these guys off.

[dcJohn]

This morning I both wrote and called my rep, Chris Van Hollen (Dem, MD 8th) about his vote in favor of HR4411.

It's frustrating, because I've been a supporter of Chris'. Both my wife and I have donated to his campaign, even his exploratory efforts at running for Senate. But, as the saying goes, all politics is local, and as much as I support his legislative agenda in general, when my congressional rep votes in favor of directly blocking a hobby or source of work that many rightfully enjoy, then that trumps the goodwill and support he's built up otherwise.

As so, while it was hard, I committed that this will end any future support I will offer Van Hollen.

Then I wrote and called (again) my MD Senators to telegraph how important this issue was to me. And I (finally) got around to joining the Poker Players Alliance.

[Ali shmali]

[ QUOTE ]
This morning I both wrote and called my rep, Chris Van Hollen (Dem, MD 8th) about his vote in favor of HR4411.

It's frustrating, because I've been a supporter of Chris'. Both my wife and I have donated to his campaign, even his exploratory efforts at running for Senate. But, as the saying goes, all politics is local, and as much as I support his legislative agenda in general, when my congressional rep votes in favor of directly blocking a hobby or source of work that many rightfully enjoy, then that trumps the goodwill and support he's built up otherwise.

As so, while it was hard, I committed that this will end any future support I will offer Van Hollen.

Then I wrote and called (again) my MD Senators to telegraph how important this issue was to me. And I (finally) got around to joining the Poker Players Alliance.

[/ QUOTE ]

did you join it through party poker? they pay for the membership and give you 10 bucks to boot. also you don't have to go through a registration process as Party just uses the info on hand to sign you up.

[DING-DONG YO]

Ali, that letter does suck. It isn't well written, articulate or convincing. And you basically admit gambling online while underage.

Seriously, get someone to help you write these kinds of letters. Maybe take one of the form letters people have posted on here and modify it.

Not trying to be an azz, but letters like yours won't help the cause.

[Ali shmali]

This was to my house representative. The bill passed the house yesterday. There is zero point to writing your state rep now other then to gripe, or am I wrong? Obviously I would not write this to my senators.

[meleader2]

"Dear Rep. Brian Higgins,

As per your "Yes" vote on online gambling the other day, you have now lost my vote.

If you are ever in the Elmwood area sometime in the fall and notice a front lawn completely covered with signs and placards promoting your opposition, that is my house. It could be Hitler for all I care.

Good luck in November."

[Berge20]

[ QUOTE ]
"Dear Rep. Brian Higgins,

As per your "Yes" vote on online gambling the other day, you have now lost my vote.

If you are ever in the Elmwood area sometime in the fall and notice a front lawn completely covered with signs and placards promoting your opposition, that is my house. It could be Hitler for all I care.

Good luck in November ."

[/ QUOTE ]

Politics is no more a game of luck than poker is /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[mattnxtc]

my boy ted poe came through like a champ...look at that republican voting with the democrates...he realizes the truth

[antneye]

I know its after the fact, but he needs to know how I feel. Hopefully if there is enough backlash, the political machine gets the message to let this die in the senate. I have also contacted my senators.

------------------

Dear Mr. King,

I am a longtime supporter of yours but feel a need to express my displeasure on your vote in support of HR4411 which in its present form would make playing poker online illegal. I find it the heart of hypocrisy that a game of skill like poker would be made illegal while maintaining an exception for games of chance such as lotteries and horse racing.

I find the excuse being given by many of your peers that gambling ruins lives to be a hollow one. The consumption of alcohol ruins lives too, yet remains legal and regulated after a shortsighted attempt to abolish it failed last century. Have we forgotten the lessons of the past? Would it not make more sense to find a way to regulate and tax online gaming? The Federal Government is sorely in need of additional revenue streams and the US Government should follow the lead of countries like the UK in tapping into this estimated 8 Billion dollar a year industry.

I am shocked that this bill is being sheparded by the Republican Party. The Republican Party that I have been a staunch supporter of was always interested in keeping the government out of the private lives of US citizens. How did we lose the way so quickly? This vote makes me feel like a person without a party. Should this Bill make its way into Law, my vote for you and your republican colleagues in future elections will no longer be a certainty.

[bills217]

Dear Rep. Chandler (D-KY),

I was very disappointed to see you vote with the Republicans on the Internet Gambling Bill. It will be very difficult to support you in the future.

Sincerely,

XXX

[NY60]

I wrote my Congresswoman this:


Dear Congresswoman Schultz:

I am very disappointed to see that you voted in favor of H.R.4411 and H.R.4777 regarding the ban on internet poker.

As a leading South Florida citizen, you are well aware that poker is legal here in the State of Florida and that I can "Bet the House" anytime I want at either the Indian casinos, the pari-mutual dog tracks , harness tracks, horse tracks and/or jai alai. Also, there are multiple "cruises to nowhere" for all to enjoy not to mention the explosion of the so called "penny arcades" where my Mom joins the thousands of other senior citizens everyday to play slot machines for "Publix gift cards".

OH, did I forget to mention the legalization of slot machines here in Broward County, as well as, the current Seminole Indian tribe negotiations with the Federal Department of the Interior which WILL, most assuredly, expand all CLASS III gaming including poker.

Why is it then that I can enjoy all these forms of gaming BUT NOT from the comfort of my own home (I for one ONLY play poker which is a game of skill not played against the stacked house odds).

I've heard all the proponents’ arguments. This ban will protect children from gambling on the computer...@*&^%$#%^%&&, (as a former NEW YORKER myself I will spare you the interpretation of that).

You know we are not foolish enough to think that we need this law to protect Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz' children from internet gambling because, like the rest of us responsible parents, she and her husband both love and care about their children, and we as responsible parents ourselves, trust that together they can BEST monitor and protect their own children FAR BETTER than any politician in Washington. Why is it that politicians like yourself think that they can do a better job than us??

As you can imagine, this argument is both insulting and infuriating. It seems that the politicians play the “child card” every time some right wing religious fanatic wants to pass “moral” legislation. Give me a break, I, like you, got my morals from my parents and grandparents (who settled in this country, endured two (2) world wars, a depression, a cold war, Vietnam Watergate and all the rest) and NOT from some mandated legislation instituted by some right wing radical in Washington.

OH, here is the best part about this legislation. Poker gets swept into the net of prohibition, while online horse betting and Internet lotteries get free passes. Well kids, Washington says it’s ok. As a kid growing up near Yonkers Raceway in New York, I learned from a very early age how prevalent organized crime and cheating is in the horsing gaming industry, an industry which now, apparently, has its sights set on the young in order to replace their aging clientele. Well THAT’S GREAT…thanks a lot Congresswoman Schultz.

Oh, what’s that they say, there are built in safeguards in the legislation to protect the children from the politically endowed horse gaming industry, safeguards which just aren’t good enough to protect everyone’s kids from all the other forms of gaming. What a joke!!!

Then there is the terrorist money laundering scare tactic. All these internet web sites are terrorist fronts. Did somebody bother to tell this to “Party Gaming” who owns the largest internet poker web site, a company publicly traded on the British stock exchange?

Encourages addiction. Here we go. The gaming industry estimates are that 1 -2% of all people become compulsive gamblers no matter what you do. These people are already with us. They do not discriminate in which venue they choose to gamble…they are already doing it in the multiple other forms already readily available beside…I’ve seen more people including my own family members go bankrupt buying from the QVC and other home shopping networks.

Then there is the tax revenue issue. This by far is the most egregious.

As a person raised on Long Island you should know the difference between the New York and Florida public schools. One of my family members spent 25 years as a teacher in the public school system in Bay Shore New York. She then spent another 20+ years teaching in Broward County until her retirement from the McFatter school. She will be the first to tell you of the difference between the two school systems…yet none of the gaming revenue from any of the Indian reservation gaming operations flows to the State of Florida to improve our public schools even after the Governor had an opportunity to negotiate such.

Have you ever been to the “Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino” Congresswoman?? Have you ever seen the money they are making over there?? So successful are they that the 400 million dollar investment is going to be recovered in less than 4 years AND this even before the CLASS III gaming gets instituted.

It is in this back drop that you voted for federal legislation that would deny us federal tax revenue from a 15-20 billion GROWING internet industry and industry which you are powerless to stop. Well, thanks again!!!!

[ragecg]

What I would like to see is the PPA to do some ground-work research on every states' PRO-poker representative, and post thier names so we know who to vote for, and who to target for midnight lawn-poopage:)