[Dmunnee]

following up with getting a letter in front of state senators, my connection to the state senate just mailed the following statement to the state senators in the entire fifth congressional district that includes 29 towns in eastern/central MA.

"To Whom It May Concern;

I am a Massachusetts resident and taxpayer, an avid poker player, and a supporter of online poker.

I recently learned that Governor Patrick proposed Casino Gambling Legislation: House 4307, and that within the context of this bill he proposes criminalizing all forms of Internet gaming including poker; (See: Section 15(h)(2)(i)). As a hard working, law abiding citizen residing in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I take exception to this bizarre section of the bill. This approval of how one can and cannot play poker smacks of protectionism for casino developers. Worse, it does so by turning ordinary Massachusetts citizens into criminals. This section of the bill is an outrage and must be purged.

With one of the largest segments of poker players in America per capita, Massachusetts will see many of the people who voted Governor Patrick into office sent to prison for partaking in their chosen form of entertainment. Why is a Governor who claims to support the “common people” so eager to make criminals out of these common people? Casino developers need no governmental protection in order to make money hand over fist, but ordinary residents of Massachusetts do need the government to step in and stop special interests from squeezing every last dollar they can from our emaciated freedoms.

Even if passed, what will this inherent contradiction do to the credibility of Massachusetts Jurisprudence? Rather than an example of good policy, it will be a law to be pointed out and laughed at on the Internet. It will be a loss of rights for we who would like to play poker online, and a loss of credibility for the Massachusetts State Legislature.

Can our government, even on the state level, afford that loss of credibility? Prohibition does not prevent people from engaging in a prohibited activity, it only makes them hide that activity more efficiently, most especially on their tax returns. Criminalize online poker, and you force people to either admit to being criminals or to hide that income. If the law is fair rather then written only to benefit a select few owners of casinos, people become far more likely to pay their fair share.

A reasonable alternative to this section of the bill is to regulate and tax online poker. Massachusetts has a proud history of innovative and standard-setting regulations. Why not become the first state in the Union to capitalize on Internet poker rather than to ban it?

Help us talk to our Governor. We will be proud to support him in the next election, but only if he governs fairly, and with his constituents foremost in mind. For that to happen, there absolutely must be a rewriting of Section 15(h)(2)(i) of House 4307. I’m sure you will find this a much more suitable alternative than imprisoning the very people who voted you into office."

I got a rough draft from Randy and had my brother edit it for content/flow etc. This is the final copy sent out. I think our message is about to get much more widespread across the senate.