A DANGEROUS THREAT TO ONLINE POKER.

[fanmail]

Thanks for alerting us about this. I just left a message for Senator Roberts and Rep Ryun(KS) voicing my concerns about the piggyback issue.

[Gregg777]

[ QUOTE ]
Frist Fails to Piggyback I-Gaming Bill
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's effort to attach prohibitive online gambling legislation to the FY 2007 Defense Department Conference Report (DCR 07) has yet to materialize. The conference committee on the Department of Defense (DOD) authorization bill reportedly removed "Leach-type language" from the bill.

A source close to IGN said he expects Frist, R-Tenn., to continue pressuring legislators to amend the bill, making use of provisions introduced by Rep. Jim Leach, R-Iowa, which target U.S. based banks, credit card companies and other Internet payment systems, prohibiting them from making payments to online gambling companies.

Frist's campaign has allegedly drawn criticism from House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, who insists the only acceptable provision would be one similar or identical to the House-passed bill (HR 4411), the source said.

As it stands, the source indicated, the House-passed bill is considered unacceptable by the horse racing industry and, by extension, several key senators, thereby making it "difficult, but not impossible," for Frist to piggyback his prohibitive online gambling legislation onto the DOD bill.


[/ QUOTE ]

[Megenoita]

Well that's fantastic news...I really hope he can't attach the bill as it stands.

[Nate tha\\\' Great]

Who to call:

Our fate is going to be determined by the members of the House-Senate conference committee, a list of which I've linked to here, in conjunction with leadership members like Senator Frist. The bill that emerges from the conference committee is overwhelmingly likely to become public law. If that bill contains provisions on internet gambling, those will become law.

Thus, the best person to contact is a senator from your state, or a represenative from your distict, who serves on the conference committee. If you have multiple congresspersons who serve meet this criteria, call each of them. The next best option is probably to contact a representative on the conference committee who serves in your state, but not in your district.

What to say:

- I am a {Republican/Democratic} voter in your {state/district}. (I would only mention your party affiliation if it corresponds with that of the congressperson. If you are a veteran or reservist, or have a son/daughter/father/brother who serves in the military, I might also mention that.)

- I oppose Senator Frist's effort to attach provisions on internet gambling to the Department of Defense Authorization bill.

- Internet gambling is a complex issue that deserves to be debated before the full light of day in the Senate.

- It is particularly inappropriate to attach extraneous language to a defense bill, where it jeopardizes pay raises for our troops in a time of war.

- Congress should instead work to tax and regulate gambling over the Internet, as it does other forms of gambling like lotteries and horse racing.

[fsuplayer]

nate,

thanks a ton.

guys,

CALLCALLACALLCALLCALLCALLCALLCALLCALL

[duck_butter]

Hey Nate,

Can we call these offices on the weekend? Are they open?

-dB

[Nate tha\\\' Great]

[ QUOTE ]
Hey Nate,

Can we call these offices on the weekend? Are they open?

-dB

[/ QUOTE ]

How about this? Call today and leave a message if nobody's there. Call again on Monday to follow up and reiterate your message.

[Nate tha\\\' Great]

[ QUOTE ]
- Congress should instead work to tax and regulate gambling over the Internet, as it does other forms of gambling like lotteries and horse racing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Note that Congress technically does not regulate lotteries; the states do. It does have some regulatory responsibility for horse racing. So you might want to omit the "lotteries" part if using this as a template.

[duck_butter]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Hey Nate,

Can we call these offices on the weekend? Are they open?

-dB

[/ QUOTE ]

How about this? Call today and leave a message if nobody's there. Call again on Monday to follow up and reiterate your message.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok Nate, will do, thanks.

[theBruiser500]

being a typical lazy poker player i really didn't want to call and wasn't going to. however, nate out of respect to all the work you and others have done on this issue i just called both of my states representatives about this issue. everyone else please do so also.

i did some door to door canvassing for a couple weeks where i learned something interesting. i figured talking to a senator didn't mean much, you're just one person. however, in their calculations they figure (i forget the numbers but they are something like this), an email is worth 15 people, a letter 50 and a phone call 150 people. one phone call represents many other people who feel the same thing but for whatever reason don't call. so you can see that a phone call means a lot more than you might think.