GOOD Wall Street Journal Story

[TheEngineer]

I just emailed every Senate Republican with a similar letter. Hopefully the costs involved will get some attention.

[Tofu_boy]

Thanks for all the hard work Engineer I don't know anything but I'll support whatever you do to get it better for us.

Thanks Again.

[TheEngineer]

I posted this info at DailyKos, at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/25/145712/463 . Please check it out.

[oldbookguy]

I am certain it will not be appreciated, but, I added this to a blog at the GOP.com site today as well.

obg

[NajdorfDefense]

The Wire Act was law and online/phone betting was illegal long before UIGEA. Yes, there is a HR exemption, and no, state lottos are not done via phone, so stop comparing them.

Secondly, this case will simply be another carrot up for trading in the WTO Doha and other rounds from the US. It is a tiny tiny piece of a much larger puzzle.

Sports gamblers have been trying to make betting on say, the Super Bowl, legal for decades and decades. Be prepared for a VERY long battle is all I'm saying here. It's only legal in Nevada and expect online poker to receive similar treatment at best.

[oldbookguy]

[ QUOTE ]
and no, state lottos are not done via phone, so stop comparing them.

[/ QUOTE ]

I bed to differ, try READING the FAQ at the Mass. lottery, it specifically lists a phone number you can call and buy 'season passes' for Lottery Drawings.

obg

[Jay Cohen]

That's correct. As part of the WTO investigation, lottery tickets were purchased by phone with a credit card from Massachussets. A subscription card was sent UPS mail, and winnings would have been sent by US mail.

[oldbookguy]

Thanks Jay, I take it though the ticket was a loser....no check via US Mail?

obg

[Legislurker]

[ QUOTE ]
The Wire Act was law and online/phone betting was illegal long before UIGEA. Yes, there is a HR exemption, and no, state lottos are not done via phone, so stop comparing them.

Secondly, this case will simply be another carrot up for trading in the WTO Doha and other rounds from the US. It is a tiny tiny piece of a much larger puzzle.

Sports gamblers have been trying to make betting on say, the Super Bowl, legal for decades and decades. Be prepared for a VERY long battle is all I'm saying here. It's only legal in Nevada and expect online poker to receive similar treatment at best.

[/ QUOTE ]

Doha is dead. Beyond dead. The freaks killed it in Seattle. Bilateral and regional trade deals will be it for a generation or more.

[donfairplay]

[ QUOTE ]
August 23, 2007

Alan Mulally
Chief Executive Officer
The Boeing Company
100 North Riverside
Chicago, Illinois 60606

Dear Mr. Mulally:

As an engineer in the aerospace industry, I read with great concern articles in both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal concerning upcoming WTO sanctions on U.S. businesses to compensate for the government’s blocking of access to our Internet gaming market. [The articles are available online at www.nytimes.com/2007/08/23/business/worldbusiness/23gamble.html?ref=business and at http://online.wsj.com/public/article...870406171.html.] The articles are very troubling, as it appears the U.S. is already preparing to give billions of dollars in trade sanctions to the EU and other nations in order to keep its Internet gaming restrictions. Also, the U.S. is willing to weaken the WTO by backing out of a previously agreed-upon sector of GATS. While it is bad enough that the U.S. government would choose to not allow people the freedom to choose to play poker in their own homes with their own money, expecting our most successful industries and our largest employers to finance this decision to the tune of billions of dollars per year in trade concessions is egregious.

What makes this even worse is that, had Congress truly felt Internet gaming was wrong, they could have avoided this trade issue by simply banning all Internet gaming. However, this was not the case. Congress specifically allowed interstate horse race betting and fantasy football to be wagered over the Internet (apparently these are more moral than poker to someone in Congress). So, in essence, Boeing is being asked to subsidize these two activities, which I’ve nicknamed the Mitch McConnell Horse Racing Subsidy and the NFL Fantasy Football Tax.

Negotiations with the European Union over this issue are scheduled for next month. I urge you to speak up before the United States Trade Representative places these taxes on the shoulders of Boeing.

Sincerely,

TheEngineer

[/ QUOTE ]
Engineer,

You might want to send that to James McNerney. Alan Mulally left Boeing to become CEO at Ford.