Dinner With A Congressman

[jbrent33]

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"nanny state". Regardless of your dinner mates personal view of poker, we enjoy playing and are harming no one.

Further where the government says is "ok" to play where and when, does not work for all of us.

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I think the "harming no one" argument will not hold water. Here is a quote from some hearings he chaired on the matter.

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I appreciate your testimony. Mr. Goodlatte mentioned, and I think others have mentioned, that Mrs. Kelly held some extensive hearings on this earlier this month. If you read that testimony, I think, if for no other reason, you see the social and the financial hazards that young people have when they are exposed to internet gambling. They are computer-sophisticated. They normally have access to a credit card. They become addicted at a young age to this form of gambling. And if for no other reason, I think we need to address it. And it is a tremendously growing problem with our young people who become addicted to gambling at such an early age.

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Of course online poker harms some people. Just like alcohol, lottery tickets, casino gambling, shopping, credit cards, etc. However, all of those things are perfectly legal. It's about personal choice. Adults should be able to choose whether to gamble online. Some will not be able to handle it, but that doesn't mean they should take it away from the many people who can handle it.

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This doesn't hold water, in fact it doesn't even really address what the Congressman's main problem in the above quote. Do you see why?