[tipperdog]

In reading this forum, two questions/issues keep coming up and responses are generally wrong. Below are the correct answers (apologies for sounding so dogmatic, but it's important to note that these are NOT opinions).

What does the Internet bill have to do with Port Security? Is it legal/ethical for the law to have been passed in this manner?

Clearly, the law has nothing to do with ports. However, attaching unrelated legislation to another bill is business as usual in Washington. It is neither illegal nor unusual. There is nothing more to say.

Where are there exemptions for horse-racing/lotteries? Isn't that unfair?

Unfair? Sure. Illegal? Almost certainly not. A WTO problem? Almost certainly. However, WTO is unlikely to cause a change to the law, at least in the forseeable future.

These exemptions were created because very powerful constituencies demanded them. This is a key difference between horse racing and online poker. Horse racing has champions in Congress. It's a major industry in several states (such as Kentucky), and key legislators (such as Mitch McConnell (R-KY) would have fought tooth and nail against any bill that didn't include a horse racing exemption. Can anyone name a member of Congress who would lay down on the proverbial train tracks for online poker? I can't either...because there are none.