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Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Weekly action thread
Welcome to the master weekly action thread. Are you still tired of having your rights trampled on by grandstanding politicians? I am. Guys, we've had some successes since UIGEA passed, including the following:
- Frist is gone, as is Leach - Barney Frank (D-MA, Chairman of the Financial Services Committee) has publicly taken our side. He'll introduce legislation around 4/18 in favor of online gaming. I think our support may have helped this, at least a little. - Ron Paul (R-TX) sent several of us emails (even those of us not in his district) specifically stating he'll support Barney Frank's efforts. Coincidentally, that's EXACTLY what we asked him for in one of our weekly action items. - Shelley Berkley (D-NV) and Jon Porter (R-NV) have proposed legislation to study legalized and regulated online gambling. Again, one of our action items hit the mark. While they likely would have done this anyway, our support gave them some additional ammo to proceed forward. - The WTO ruled in favor of Antigua over the U.S. in the issue of the U.S. banning online gaming. - Banks are bitching about being the UIGEA's enforcers. - Al D'Amato joined PPA (great news overall, I think...folks concerned about the focus of PPA should join for free and tell PPA that they wish PPA to fight for all online gaming). Seems this is the time to fight. After all, the UIGEA-driven regs haven't been put in place yet, stuff is moving in our favor, and we're being heard. Given all this, I'd like to ask everyone here to participate each week. Thanks. ----------------------------------- Prior Action Plan threads: Fight UIGEA!! -- Action plan for week of 2/26 Fight UIGEA!! -- Action plan for week of 3/5 Fight UIGEA!! -- Action plan for week of 3/12 Fight UIGEA!! -- Action plan for week of 3/19 Fight UIGEA!! -- Action plan for week of 3/26 Fight UIGEA!! -- Action plan for week of 4/2 Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/9 & 4/16 |
Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/16
Barney Frank says he needs to hear more from us ( Barney Frank article), so let's continue last week's action plan.
------------------------------------------------- As Barney Frank will be submitting legislation in the next two weeks to the House Financial Services Committee, let's focus there this week. Even if you've written to these folks some time ago, please do so again, this time simply requesting that they cosponsor Frank's legislation. We asked Ron Paul specifically for that and he responded affirmatively. Let's get more congressmen to do the same. <font color="brown">Primary Action: - contact the majority and minority offices of the House Financial Services Committee and the Financial Institutions Subcommittee (one phone call AND one snail mail letter...see the next post for contact info). - send thank-you letters to Barney Frank and Ron Paul for their support. They're going out on a limb not for constituents, lobbyists, or donors, but solely because they believe in freedom....our freedom. They get nothing at all except for our gratitude. Let's give it to them. The letters will go a long way in showing that Americans want this repealed. - if you haven't yet, contact your representative and ask him/her to cosponsor Frank's repeal efforts The letters don't have to be fancy. All they have to do is ask the members to support Frank's legislation. This is easy. Additional Actions: - ask your poker site to contribute to PPA like FullTilt recently did. - write a short letter to your local newspaper about your desire for the U.S. to give us freedoms others, including even Russians and Eastern Europeans, take for granted. - if feeling ambitious, print out letters for your friends to sign and mail</font> Please see Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/9 & 4/16 for contact info. Thanks to everyone who participates. I'm looking forward this week's fight for our rights. Please reply to this thread if you participate. Thanks! |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/16
[img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]
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Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/16
Reply from my congressman:
April 9, 2007 Thank you for your continued correspondence about legislation related to Internet gambling that passed in the 109th Congress. I appreciate the opportunity to respond. As you know, H.R. 4411, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act signed into law as part of a larger bill package on October 13, 2006. The internet gambling provisions will prevent the use of credit cards and fund transfers for unlawful internet gambling and block financial transactions associated with illegal gambling. While many Americans have the misimpression that internet gambling is legal because of the easy access to online casinos based offshore, it is not. The new provisions do not change the law, but rather provide new enforcement tools to help law enforcement and financial services companies crack down on this already illegal activity, This legislation received endorsements from the religious community, family groups, financial services groups and all the major professional sports organizations. American dollars account for half of the $12 billion bet worldwide on the internet. FBI and Justice Department experts have warned that internet gambling websites are vulnerable to being used for money, laundering, drug trafficking and terrorist financing, As a member of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities, my colleagues and I have taken a particular interest in this issue. I have serious concerns about terrorist financing and the possibility of terrorists laundering money through unregulated, offshore online casinos. House Financial services Chairman Barney Frank [MA-04] has expressed an interest in reprieving this issue. As a member of the Committee, I will take your support for a repeal of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act into consideration should the issue come up again. Thanks again for sharing your thoughts on internet gambling. Also, you can sign up for the _____ District’s E-Mail Newsletter by visiting my website at http://__________.house.gov/emailsignup.aspx. Sincerely, xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx ----------------------------------------------------- My reply: April 13, 2007 The Honorable **** **** United States House of Representatives **** **** House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Congressman ****: I thank you for your April 9th letter where you responded to my request that you work to restore the right of Americans to play Internet poker and other casino games in the privacy of their own homes by cosponsoring Barney Frank’s upcoming Internet gambling legislation. I’d like to share with you my humble opinion on the matter. By way of introduction, I’m an engineer with one of the area’s larger employers. After a long day at work, I enjoy playing a little poker on occasion, and I prefer playing in the comfort of my own home with my wife at my side to playing in a smoky casino in [the neighboring state]. I happen to be skilled enough at the game to win significantly more than I lose, but that’s not really the point. Poker is an enjoyable game of skill, much as golfing or fishing. In fact, poker is one of the great American pastimes. Presidents, generals, Supreme Court Justices, members of Congress and average Americans have enjoyed the game for more than 150 years. It’s an honorable game. As a conservative Republican, I share some of your concerns about online gambling. However, it’s not obvious that federal laws restricting our freedoms and liberties will solve these issues. After all, online gambling will continue internationally. In fact, the WTO has recently ruled the U.S. violated international trade law by prosecuting online gambling cases. As such, I urge you to support legalization with regulation. A regulated Internet gambling environment will facilitate age verification and collection of federal and state taxes. It will also reduce any potential vulnerability of gambling websites to being used for money laundering, drug trafficking, or terrorist financing. With regulation, potential problems can be controlled without taking freedoms from Americans. After all, Russians and Eastern Europeans can gamble online; it seems the U.S. should trust its citizens at least as much as Russia trusts theirs, right? You mentioned the endorsements H.R. 4411 received from the religious community, family groups, financial services groups and all major professional sports organizations. I hope you’ll consider the fact that these groups do not necessarily represent the majority of voters in our district (or even the majority of Republicans in our district). As for religious and family groups, there is no prohibition against gambling in the Bible. As a Christian, I personally find it offensive that so many so-called religious folks are willing to give away our freedoms, especially in pursuit of a goal not even defined in the Bible. As for financial services groups, some credit card issuers may like UIGEA (due only to the risk of losing players refusing to pay up), but I don’t believe banks wish to be the enforcers of UIGEA. As a result, I think you’ll find financial services groups to be net losers as a result of UIGEA. Finally, I believe the concerns of the major professional sports organizations relate only to sports betting. A regulated online gaming environment can address that concern. Online gaming will continue to exist with or without the participation of the United States. We’re losing our opportunity to control the games via regulation as well as the opportunities for U.S. companies to operate the games both domestically and internationally. This is costing America jobs and tax revenue. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, TheEngineer |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/16
Please post below once you've contacted (phone or letter) either the House Financial Services Committee or the Financial Institutions Subcommittee (either Majority or Minority). Thanks.
I think we need eighty of us here (plus 20 at BJ21.com) particpating to claim the synergy of a group effort. Fewer than that and there's probably little reason to try to coordinate our efforts. We can drop to biweekly if that would help. Many here have posted with support, so I think we may be close. Anyway, let's stick to this action plan until there are eighty affirmative replies to this post. Thanks for your support. |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/16
bump....who's in?
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Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/16
Nice letter, keep up the good work.
Hope you don't mind if I use it. |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Weekly action thread
[ QUOTE ]
Primary Action: - contact the majority and minority offices of the House Financial Services Committee and the Financial Institutions Subcommittee [/ QUOTE ] Who are these Congressmen? Also, how does one get in contact with Congressman Frank's office. I went to his website to send him an email, but it only provides a means for people who live in his district to contact him. |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/16
Called Frank and Gutierrez.
Moneyline, call instead. They seldom ask where you are from. |
Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/16
Contact Info:
House Committee on Financial Services Majority (Democrats) Rayburn House Office Building 2129 Washington, D.C. 20515 202-225-4247 Minority (Republicans) Rayburn House Office Building B-371A Washington, D.C. 20515 202-225-7502 ---------------------------------------------- House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Majority (Democrats) Rayburn House Office Building 2129D Washington, D.C. 20515 202-225-4247 (same as parent committee) Minority (Republicans) Rayburn House Office Building B-301C Washington, D.C. 20515 202-225-2258 --------------------------------------------- Congressman Barney Frank 2252 Rayburn H.O.B. Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-5931 Congressman Ron Paul 203 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Phone Number: (202) 225-2831 |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/16
Some discussion points:
- America is a free country. We should be as free to play poker at home as British, Russians, and Eastern Europeans are. Moralists shouldn't be able to force their ideas of morality on others through force of law in a free country. - This bill forces U.S. banks to act as the moral police of America; it shifts the costs to them as well. - Stockholders in banks should complain about being forced to foot the bill for this. - American companies are at risk of being completely shut out of the Internet gaming market. Existing Internet companies have already developed business models that don't rely on American players. America is losing a lot of potential revenue. - The U.S. should desire a regulated market. That way, the U.S. can set and enforce the age limits. Also, money-laundering issues can be monitored. - Compliance with the latest WTO ruling |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/16
My letter to the subcommittee Republicans (my letter to the full committee is virtually identical):
April 8, 2007 House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Minority (Republicans) Rayburn House Office Building B-301C Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Representatives: I'm writing to ask you to restore the right of Americans to play Internet poker and other casino games in the privacy of their own homes. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is big government nanny-statism at its worst. I believe the outrage of my fellow poker players contributed strongly to the Democratic win in the last election. It's not just me; many Republican core supporters do not support the big government nanny state. That's why the Contract with America was so enthusiastically received by the Republican rank-and-file. In the interests of freedom and bipartisanship, I ask the committee to support Chairman Barney Frank’s upcoming Internet gambling legislation. The impact of UIGEA includes the following: · This law forces American banks to function as the moral police of America. It shifts the costs and other burdens of enforcement to them as well. · As a result of this law, Americans are now less free than even Russians and Eastern Europeans. · The Department of Justice has elected to act outside the scope of existing federal law. The recent heavy-handed DOJ arrests of the founders of Neteller and the seizure of pending EFT transfers from Neteller to American citizen are outrages. It seems the DOJ has a vendetta against U.S. online gamblers who broke no federal laws by playing. In other words, although they are part of the executive branch, they’ve elected to create their own laws – laws that have not been introduced through your subcommittee or approved by Congress. · The House Subcommittee on Financial Institutions should desire a regulated market. That way, the U.S. can set and enforce age limits while establishing procedures for money-laundering monitoring. · The U.S. should comply with the recent WTO ruling that concluded that our restrictions on Internet gambling constitute an unfair restraint of trade. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, TE |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/16
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Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/16
Your action plan should include picking one thread and sticking with it... [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]
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Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/16
[ QUOTE ]
Your action plan should include picking one thread and sticking with it... [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] [/ QUOTE ] I'm trying. I think too many people view these as "flat" and cannot see where each week's plan is. |
Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
<font color="brown">Primary Actions:
1. Let's join the WSEX action plan this week and next. It's good that the sites are fighting back, so we should support that, I think. When writing these letters, I think we'll want to be careful to tailor them to the specific representatives and senators, of course. In addition to contacting individual members of Congress, let's contact both the majority and the minority offices of the House Subcommittee on Trade. </font> [ QUOTE ] This email is being sent to all World Sports Exchange customers as a courtesy to the Antigua Online Gaming Association. Greetings Players, As you may be aware, online gaming has been under attack by the United States for the last decade. The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has successfully challenged the malicious prosecution of Antiguan operators in the World Trade Organization. The WTO has found that the US's application of its laws against Antiguan entities is protectionist and in violation of the General Agreement on Trade in Services. Now that Antigua has won the legal battle, it can use political support in Congress. Here's how you can help. Please email and phone your Representative in the House of Representatives and your two Senators. Remind them that the United States needs to abide by the decision in the Antigua-Gaming matter if they expect other countries to comply with WTO decisions in favor of the United States. Here is a link to a letter to the USTR from Representative Ros-Lehtinen, the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Foreign Affairs: http://www.antiguawto.com/LettertoUSTR.pdf Rep. Ros-Lehtinen eloquently noted, "...our failure to resolve this dispute may harm our credibility as we seek to press countries like China regarding their violations on a range of issues, including intellectual property protection, subsidies, and currency manipulation." She further warned, "In the event the United States fails to reach a satisfactory resolution of the Antigua dispute, it could provide China with an argument to ignore a WTO decision favorable to the United States." Please send the link above to your Representative and Senators. Ask them to send similar letters to the United States Trade Representative. Let them know you vote, you pay taxes, and you think the United States should comply with the decision in the Antigua-Gaming matter. To contact your Representative and two Senators, follow the links below or call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and give them your zip code. Make sure you call three times. http://www.house.gov http://www.senate.gov We will continue to fight the legal battle, please help us with the political fight. Thank you, Antigua Online Gaming Association www.aoga.ag [/ QUOTE ][b] <font color="brown">2. Sen. John Kyl grilled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at last week's hearings not about the issue with the fired attorneys general, but about enforcement of UIGEA! He seems to think his anti-gambling platform enjoys 100% support. Sen. Kyl bragging about UIGEA on his website, calling it the 'Kyl Internet Gambling Ban'! Let's contact Sen. Kyl and Atty Gen Alberto Gonzales (if he still has a job next week) and tell them we support freedom to choose to gamble online. Kyl will not change his mind, but he needs to know there's a political price to pay for his positions. I'm going to write to him to criticize his big-government solution to the "problem" of people deciding on their own to play poker online and to inform him that I'll contribute to his next opponent (yeah, I know that's five years away, but many of us are not AZ residents and we need something actionable). Another benefit to writing this one letter is that we'll have templates for future letters to anti-freedom members of Congress. Thanks everyone! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
This one should be starightforward, as we had a similar action just a few weeks ago. Looks like we can just tweak those letters up a bit and send them out.
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Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
TheEngineer,
I think you should also start a blog even if you copy&paste what you're posting here. You'll allow others a chance through google to help support our cause. |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
[ QUOTE ]
TheEngineer, I think you should also start a blog even if you copy&paste what you're posting here. You'll allow others a chance through google to help support our cause. [/ QUOTE ] Thanks, but I think I'll need a lot more participation here before expanding the effort. After all, if WE don't care, why will the random googler? If Barney Frank's new bill gets folks here motivated I'll consider a blog. I have a site available if we get that far. I feel pretty good about folks jumping in to support Frank's bill. Let's kick some ass!!! |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
Everyone: PLEASE contact your representative and senators THIS WEEK and ask him/her to support Frank's upcoming legalization legislation (Frank plans bill to undo Net-gambling ban).
The bill should have a number the morning of 4/26. Thanks!!! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
My letter to Kyl:
April 25, 2007 Senator Jon Kyl United States Senate 730 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Senator Kyl: I’ve been following your efforts to restrict the ability of Americans to choose play Internet poker and other casino games in the privacy of their own homes. I’d like to share with you my humble opinion on the matter. By way of introduction, I’m an engineer with one of the nation’s larger companies. After a long day at work, I enjoy playing a little poker on occasion, and I prefer playing in the comfort of my own home with my wife at my side to playing in a smoky casino. I happen to be skilled enough at the game to win significantly more than I lose, but that’s not really the point. Poker is an enjoyable game of skill, much as golfing or fishing. In fact, poker is one of the great American pastimes. Presidents, generals, Supreme Court Justices, members of Congress and average Americans have enjoyed the game for more than 150 years. It’s an honorable game. As a fellow Republican, I share some of the concerns you’ve mentioned about online gambling. However, it’s not obvious that federal laws restricting our freedoms and liberties will solve these issues. After all, online gambling will continue internationally. In fact, the WTO has recently ruled the U.S. violated international trade law by prosecuting online gambling cases. As such, I urge you to support legalization with regulation, rather than prohibition. A regulated Internet gambling environment will facilitate age verification and collection of federal and state taxes. It will also reduce any potential vulnerability of gambling websites to being used for money laundering, drug trafficking, or terrorist financing. With regulation, potential problems can be controlled without taking freedoms from Americans. After all, Russians and Eastern Europeans can gamble online; it seems the U.S. should trust its citizens at least as much as Russia trusts theirs, right? On the topic of freedom, it seems the Republican Party has chosen to be the party of social conservatism only. The party now supports big, powerful government as long as it promotes the party’s social agenda. As such, it appears limited-government Goldwater/Reagan Republicans like myself are no longer welcome in the party. However, without us, it’s hard to see how the Republican Party can win in the West (or anywhere but the South). Do you like being in the minority, as you are today? What about when a libertarian-conservative Democrat runs against you on a platform of a smaller federal government? Ironic (at least at one time), but very foreseeable now. As an aside, when that does happen, the way things stand now he’ll likely receive a lot of donations from poker players around the nation. Also, many younger voters will wake up and turn out like they did against Rep. Leach. Proponents of online gambling prohibition often mention endorsements UGIEA received from some in the religious community, some family groups, some financial services groups and some professional sports organizations. I hope you’ll consider the fact that these groups do not necessarily represent the majority of voters in our nation (or even the majority of Arizona Republicans). As for religious and family groups, there is no prohibition against gambling in the Bible. As a Christian, I personally find it offensive that so many so-called religious folks are willing to give away our freedoms, especially in pursuit of a goal not even defined in the Bible. As for financial services groups, some credit card issuers may like UIGEA (due only to the risk of losing players refusing to pay up), but I don’t believe banks wish to be the enforcers of UIGEA. As a result, I think you’ll find financial services groups to be net losers as a result of UIGEA. Finally, I believe the concerns of the major professional sports organizations relate only to sports betting. A regulated online gaming environment can address that concern. Online gaming will continue to exist with or without the participation of the United States. We’re losing our opportunity to control the games via regulation as well as the opportunities for U.S. companies to operate the games both domestically and internationally. This is costing America jobs and tax revenue. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, TheEngineer |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
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Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
[ QUOTE ]
This seems more relevant now than ever... http://www.actblue.com/page/poker#604 [/ QUOTE ] We should make it a goal of the fight to kick up 10k for the Chairman's campaign. |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] This seems more relevant now than ever... http://www.actblue.com/page/poker#604 [/ QUOTE ] We should make it a goal of the fight to kick up 10k for the Chairman's campaign. [/ QUOTE ] I would donate thru this but it looks like a possible scam |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
"I would donate thru this but it looks like a possible scam "
You can always donate directly. The added benefit to that is that you'll know Rep. Frank knows why he got the money. |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] This seems more relevant now than ever... http://www.actblue.com/page/poker#604 [/ QUOTE ] We should make it a goal of the fight to kick up 10k for the Chairman's campaign. [/ QUOTE ] I would donate thru this but it looks like a possible scam [/ QUOTE ] Go back through the actblue website -- it's not a scam. |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
All,
Progress has been made: Press Release For Immediate Release: April 26, 2007 Frank Introduces Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act of 2007 http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press...ss042607.shtml |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Weekly action thread
Just got off the phone with Blumenauer's office and Frank's office. Accidentally referred to Kyl as Rep and not Sen. I be dmb. In other news:
for those of you living on Oregon, here are the names and numbers of your State Representatives: 01 David Wu (West Portland) (202) 225-0855 02 Greg Walden (202) 225-6730 03 Earl Blumenauer (East Portland) (202) 225-4811 04 Peter A. DeFazio (202) 225-6416 05 Darlene Hooley (202) 225-5711 call your representative, tell them you vote (because I hope you do >:( ) and let's get this bill passed. ps. if you do nothing else, at least call Rep. Frank's office at (202) 225-5931 and THANK HIM FOR PUTTING IN THE EFFORT FOR US. |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Weekly action thread
i think the master weekly action thread should be stickied at the top of every forum. i am sure most people aren't hitting this forum.
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Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Weekly action thread
[ QUOTE ]
i think the master weekly action thread should be stickied at the top of every forum. i am sure most people aren't hitting this forum. [/ QUOTE ] Agreed. I know that HSNL has a sticky now, PM bomb the rest of the mods! |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/16
Thanks so much for all of your efforts TheEngineer. We need people like you to help focus us at times.
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Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/16
[ QUOTE ]
Thanks so much for all of your efforts TheEngineer. We need people like you to help focus us at times. [/ QUOTE ] Thanks! It's great we all fought together. We'll have a lot more fighting to go, of course. I hope everyone will join in now that there's a bill out there. |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
My letter to the Daily Show:
To: thedailyshow@comedycentral.com Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 7:31 PM Subject: Rep. Barney Frank would be a great guest! Dear Sir/Madam, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) would be an outstanding guest on The Daily Show under any circumstance, but he'd be awesome now that he's introduced a new bill (HR 2406) to allow online gambling. It would be entertaining television to listen to Jon and Rep. Frank discuss the self-righteousness of the people who wish to ban online gambling. Thanks for your consideration. TheEngineer |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
[ QUOTE ]
My letter to the Daily Show: To: thedailyshow@comedycentral.com Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2007 7:31 PM Subject: Rep. Barney Frank would be a great guest! Dear Sir/Madam, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) would be an outstanding guest on The Daily Show under any circumstance, but he'd be awesome now that he's introduced a new bill (HR 2406) to allow online gambling. It would be entertaining television to listen to Jon and Rep. Frank discuss the self-righteousness of the people who wish to ban online gambling. Thanks for your consideration. TheEngineer [/ QUOTE ] That's an awesome idea, engineer...I would love to see that and wouldn't be suprised to see that happen. Frank loves tv time and Stewart would be all over this self righteous crap. Kodfish |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
I just stole your idea and emailed David Letterman's generic email box:
[ QUOTE ] Date: Thu, 26 Apr 2007 23:52:39 -0500 (CDT) From: Me! Subject: guest suggestion for David Letterman - Barney Frank To: cbsmailbag@aol.com Hello Dave and company, First off, great show! I can't get enough of it. After all these years, it is still funny and entertaining. I would like to suggest that an invitation be extended to Barney Frank to appear on your show. Though I don't always agree with Mr. Frank, I have found him to have a razor-sharp wit, and think that he can be very entertaining. He has recently introduced a bill to allow Internet gambling, which has stirred up some debate. The man is not afraid to speak his mind, and I think that giving him some face time with David Letterman would provide some great entertainment. [/ QUOTE ] |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
larry king would be a great forum as well.
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Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
message sent to larry king.
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Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
[ QUOTE ]
I just stole your idea and emailed David Letterman's generic email box: [/ QUOTE ] Excellent! I sent one to Colbert as well. I also sent copies of Frank's press release to many media outlets, as it seemed to not get much coverage yesterday. I sent the version that explained the controls on underage gambling and all that, of course. |
Re: Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for week of 4/23 & 4/30
I guess everyone knows what we need to do now. Write, call, email, repeat. Push for support of HR 2046. Write to our friends, uncommitted politicians, and our enemies. Write to newspapers, television shows, and any other media. Thanks.
This is our chance to get what should already be ours. Time to fight for what's right! Take no prisoners!! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] |
Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Plan for weeks of 4/30 & 5/7
Well, what an excellent week. Barney Frank introduced HR 2046: To amend title 31, United States Code, to provide for the licensing of Internet gambling facilities by the Director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, and for other purposes . And, it picked up 11 cosponsors right off the bat!
It seems there's a lot we can be doing right now. And, we really need to do it RIGHT NOW, before these politicians make up their minds. So, let's do the following: <font color="brown"> 1. Contact your congressman and senators by phone and by mail. Ask them to support and cosponsor HR 2046. Maybe comment on that fact that this bill protects from underage gambling and money laundering while protecting the rights of adults. Also, mention that you just want to play poker (if that's the case). Even though this wouldn't make a difference in a perfect world, non-gamblers can understand poker over online roulette. Also, this way it's easy to end the call with something like "come on...all I want to do is play a little poker". 2. Contact the majority and minority offices of the House Financial Services Committee (that's where the bill is now) and the Financial Institutions Subcommittee (one phone call AND one snail mail letter...see the next post for contact info). 3. Contact (write and call) the majority and the minority offices of the House Subcommittee on Trade. Remind them of our WTO obligations relative to our loss to Antigua in the recent online gambling case. This will act as a moral lever, as we have treaty obligations with the WTO. The Frank bill doesn't meet the requirements of the WTO, but the final resolution of the WTO case may coincide with the Frank bill being in some state of approval, making it easier to loosen up either in the Senate or in conference. Without a win, there's a risk of the U.S. complying by eliminating all online betting (even the precious f'ing horses [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img]). 4. Let's thank the 11 (to date) cosponsors of HR 2046. This can be via a short phone call, a handwritten letter, or a donation if you feel compelled (I'll give a little something this week). They are: Rep. Gary Ackerman [D-NY] Rep. Shelley Berkley [D-NV] Rep. Michael Capuano [D-MA] Rep. Julia Carson [D-IN] Rep. William Clay [D-MO] Rep. Luis Gutiérrez [D-IL] Rep. Steve Israel [D-NY] Rep. Peter King [R-NY] Rep. Ronald Paul [R-TX] Rep. Melvin Watt [D-NC] Rep. Robert Wexler [D-FL] We've focused on almost half of the 12 (counting Frank), so it looks like we've been doing the right things so far, given our size. 5. Write to your local newspaper, media outlets, television shows, websites, and any other media you can think of to promote our cause. </font> Thanks everyone! |
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