NV Rep Shelly Berkeley still stumping for online gambling

[kidpokeher]

Just saw an interview on a program called Eye on Washington with NV representative Shelly Berkeley (D) You may recall she is the one with the "fiery" speech on the floor when the port security bill was being passed.

She, with NV reps Gibbons (R) & Porter (R) proposed a bill in the spring of 06 to study Internet gaming and whether it could be regulated effectively, but it was shelved. She also made mention of the sneaky way it was rushed through without going through house and senate channels. She also pointed out the hypocrisy of the carve-out of horse bets and mentioned the fact that the bill's sponsor Goodlatte lives in a state with a lot of horse breeding ranches.

She also picked apart the "great danger to our youth" argument by pointing out Las Vegas' success (her district) and the "stop funds from going outside the US" argument by saying people will continue to set up accounts (unregulated) in offshore banks and e-wallet services. Her main point was she thinks government shouldn't be regulating what we choose to do with our lives.

She also mentioned the other sponsor (Leach) told her casino workers said they opposed Internet gambling and only the executives support it. She called him on it and he was unable to come up with a time he spoke to any casino worker.

It looks like she's not dropping the issue. Perhaps you would like to drop her a note of thanks:
http://berkley.house.gov/contact/email.html

[Uglyowl]

If you are in a good position financially in your life, send her a few bucks as well. The percentage of Americans who donate to politicians is small, so you will stand out.

[Sciolist]

[ QUOTE ]
If you are in a good position financially in your life, send her a few bucks as well. The percentage of Americans who donate to politicians is small, so you will stand out.

[/ QUOTE ]
Are you allowed to donate if you aren't in the US?

[Grey]

Only U.S. citizens.

A more effective way of donating to her would be through an actblue page for internet poker players- so that everyone can see where the money came from.

[MagCFO]

[ QUOTE ]
Only U.S. citizens.

A more effective way of donating to her would be through an actblue page for internet poker players- so that everyone can see where the money came from.

[/ QUOTE ]

What is this? Is there a link?

[2easy]

[ QUOTE ]
If you are in a good position financially in your life, send her a few bucks as well. The percentage of Americans who donate to politicians is small, so you will stand out.

[/ QUOTE ]


sent $100 to shelley via act blue.

sent an email to her after that. here's a copy of that:



"hello,

i recently made a donation to rep. berkley via act blue.

i live in montana, and not nevada, and i am a person who makes my living by playing internet poker.

id like to share a quick bit about myself, as i think that it could be useful in shedding some light on this subject.

im a 53 year old father raising a 16 year old daughter by myself. i used to work managing automobile dealerships. i was routinely working 50+ hour weeks and having "sitters" spending more time with my daughter than i was. having been exposed to poker some 25 years ago, (as we have legal cardrooms in montana,) i was no stranger to the game. over 3 years ago, after trying online poker and seeing that a solid and experienced player could profit there, just as one could in a "live" cardroom, i made the decision to do this for my livelihood.

why i chose to do this is simple. i can work from home and set my own hours. i have been able to do things that were impossible for me before. i attend all of my daughters school functions: music, sports, etc., which i could do precious little of before.

i can raise my own child now. i am home for her when it matters. if playing live were the only option open to me it would not work well at all. having to be gone from the home for long hours, and be in a bar or casino atmosphere for much longer than one would choose to, are some of the drawbacks. not to mention the availability of games being often too little to support oneself with, especially in a state as small population-wise as montana.

there are those who say that online is more risky to the public than "brick and mortar." arguements about it being too easy to "click your mouse and lose your house." and that online cannot protect against minor abuse of the system. and that money laundering is a concern.

to those points i would say:

one has to have a computer and internet connection, as well as a funding source to play online. as such it does take some modest wherewithal on the part of the indiviual to do so. further, if protecting the public from themselves becomes a priority item for the government, not only have we started down a slippery slope, but the concept of accountablility and responsibility for ones own actions is diminished.

minor abuse is probably as enforceable online as it is in brick and mortar, too. reasonable due diligence is the best that one can hope for in either environment. a phony id is just as likely to be effective "live" as it is online.

and as to money laundering, i have not heard of one solitary instance being documented of any of signifigance. i dont see osama firing up party poker as a very resonable means to get funding to his minions. and as well, these online sites are extremely diligent as regards the moving of any amount of money over a few hundreds of dollars.

and lastly, even the moral justifications for online prohibitions seem to ring untrue, when we have "carve-outs" for horse racing, lotteries and fantasy sports leagues. in fact, this reasonably obvious hypocrisy may harm the american stance regarding the wto ruling for antigua.

i am proud to make this small dontation to shelley. while i am not just a "one-issue" person, this issue obviously does have importance to me. and she has shown herself to be very willing to point out the hypocrisies regarding this issue, and shown the courage to stand up for reasoned thinking, as opposed to weak pandering.

i hope that rep. berkley can advance a reasoned approach of study, regulation and taxation on this matter, rather than prohibition, which has always done little other than drive problems underground.

sincerely,

jim xxxxxxxx"






uglyowl, i too encourage those who can to make your voices heard on this matter.

supporting those who support positions favorable to us needs to be done, and not just right before elections.

[RoundGuy]

Jim, that is an extremely well written letter. However, it's unfortunate that your keyboard didn't come equipped with a "Shift" key. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[2easy]

RoundGuy,

Hey, I think I just found it.

It's the one with the up-arrow "thingy" between the Ctrl and CapsLock key, right?

[Ron Burgundy]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Only U.S. citizens.

A more effective way of donating to her would be through an actblue page for internet poker players- so that everyone can see where the money came from.

[/ QUOTE ]

What is this? Is there a link?

[/ QUOTE ]

[autobet]

scroll down and you will find her act blue nevada (http://www.actblue.com/page/welborn)

[Grey]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Only U.S. citizens.

A more effective way of donating to her would be through an actblue page for internet poker players- so that everyone can see where the money came from.

[/ QUOTE ]

What is this? Is there a link?

[/ QUOTE ]Someone would need to make a poker players for Berkeley page on actblue.com.

She probably would never need the money herself because she's in a safe seat, but congresspeople can transfer their money to each other (i.e. to the vulnerable high-profile seats). So everytime someone got money from Shelly they could see on actblue that it's likely some of that money is from poker players.

[pifhluk]

[ QUOTE ]
Only U.S. citizens.

A more effective way of donating to her would be through an actblue page for internet poker players- so that everyone can see where the money came from.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is an excellent idea, any thoughts on a name? Poker Players for Berkley? something more original?

[kidpokeher]

I like the Poker Players part, but I think it should be more generic. Poker Players Against the UIGEA, Americans for Legalized Gaming, or something like that. That way we could donate to other candidates working to get rid of this stupid law.

[Grey]

http://www.actblue.com/page/poker

There. I can edit it if need be.

[2easy]

no need for edit, at least as regards the name.

a very well thought out moniker.

[kidpokeher]

Article in the Las Vegas Sun

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/gaming/2006/dec/04/566633366.html

[satya]

Only 7 donors so far? Seriously? Perhaps a new thread with a more descriptive title? Seems to me this could be effective if we could get the number of donors up.