Fight for Online Gaming!! -- Weekly action thread

[TheEngineer]

bump

[iponnet]

here is a response I got from my congresswoman (pre barnys bill) its somewhat encouraging, I have also sent her a snail mail and I am probably gona send her another one:

Thank you so much for sharing with me your thoughts on internet gaming. I appreciate hearing from you and apologize for the delayed
response. Each week, I receive more than 1,000 letters, faxes, and e-mails and cannot always personally respond as quickly as I
would like.

I agree with you that existing regulation of online gaming is extremely confusing and can occasionally be even contradictory. The
recent moves by gaming websites to route their activities through offshore servers also adds a new layer of complexity to this
issue. The arguments you make in your letter for uniform, federal legislation is compelling and I will make sure to share them with
my colleagues in the House of Representatives.

You may be interested to know that in the last Congress, Rep. Jon Porter introduced the Internet Gambling Study Commission Act (H.R.
5474) which would have created a Commission to study existing federal legislation and make recommendations to the President and
Congress. Unfortunately, Congress was not able to consider this bill before it adjourned in December 2006.

In the current Congress, I will follow this and other similar legislation closely and remember your very sensible recommendations as
we begin debate on this important issue.

Once again, thank you for contacting me. As your representative, I both need and value your perspective. Please sign up for my
E-Newsletter at my website www.house.gov/susandavis, if you would like to receive regular updates about what is happening in
Congress.

With warm regards,

Susan A. Davis
Member of Congress


and here is a response from my senator, this B**** is gona get an angry snail mail pretty soon,

Thank you for contacting me regarding Internet gambling. I
appreciate you taking the time to contact me on this important topic and I
welcome the opportunity to respond.

There is no doubt that the Internet and related technologies have
had a remarkable effect on the U.S. economy in recent years. Commerce
on the Internet has enhanced American industry's ability to distribute
goods economically and efficiently. The continuing development of this
industry in California has provided hundreds of thousands of new, well-
paying jobs, and I am committed to strengthening online commerce and
preserving and expanding this vital job base.

While the advent of the Internet has clearly been beneficial to
American society, the same cannot be said for Internet-based gambling
activity. Internet gambling has become too easily accessible to minors,
subject to fraud and criminal misuse, and too easily used to evade state
gambling laws. Please know that I have supported legislation aimed at
curbing Internet gambling during my tenure in the Senate. For example,
I supported the SAFE Port Act, passed into law as Public Law 109-347,
which included (as Title VIII) Internet gambling restrictions. I will
certainly keep your thoughts in mind should additional legislation on this
issue be considered by the Senate in the 110th Congress.

Again, thank you for your letter. I hop you will continue to keep
me informed on issues of importance to you. Best regards.






Sincerely yours,

Dianne Feinstein
United States Senator

[autobet]

Bump, please write your congressman and ask them to support HR 2406.

[TheEngineer]

More good press! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

LA Times endorses Frank's bill while chastising the US for ignoring the WTO ruling:

LA Times Editorial: Gambling hypocrisy

[BluffTHIS!]

Engineer,

Perhaps a new action thread should be devoted to contacting members of Congress re the stance of the US Trade Rep on the WTO ruling and stressing the potential negatives of same such as paying compensation to ALL who demand same (not just Antigua as refereced in Jay's thread by a poster), and the harm it could do to other US issues before the WTO in the future. Also, it could be suggested that the members of the appropriate oversight committees in each house subpoena that Trade Office dick and ask him to explain his actions and the potential liabilities entailed.

[TheEngineer]

Well, what an interesting two weeks. Barney Frank introduced HR 2046: IGREA . And, it picked up 11 cosponsors right off the bat! However, in anticipation of losing the WTO final appeal, last week the USTR has apparently announced that the U.S. would withdraw from the gambling portion of the GATS agreement.

So, 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". Additionally, let's ask our representatives and senators to honor our commitments to the WTO in this matter.

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).

3. Contact (write and call) the majority and the minority offices of the House Subcommittee on Trade. Remind them of our WTO obligations.

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!

[TheEngineer]

Rep. Shelley Berkley [D-NV] introduced HR 2140, an Internet gambling study bill. It looks like a bill we can get behind. It already has 60 cosponsors. If you support it, please tell your congressman. Thanks.

H.R. 2140: To provide for a study by the National Academy of Sciences to identify the proper response of the...

[TheEngineer]

"A coalition of major amateur and professional sports leagues is urging members of the House Financial Services Committee to oppose legislation unveiled by Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) that would undo last year’s crackdown on illegal online gambling."

I think we should all write to the NFL, the NBA, and the MLB (especially the NFL) and ask them to at least sit this one out. They really have no business actively working and campaigning against our rights. Remind them that they frequently come to the taxpayers for stadiums and other freebees.

Also, let's write to their advertisers, such as Budweiser. We can tell Anheuser-Busch and Miller Brewing Co. that this prohibition is no more just than the Prohibition of the '20s. The good thing here is that we KNOW advertisers are very sensitive to their customers' opinions, so they'll read these letters. Also, we're their target market. They care more about us than they do about Kyl's crowd, by far.

Sports leagues mobilize against Frank’s gaming bill

[Sniper]

Eng, What do you think is the likelihood of getting a bunch of poker players to stop supporting Sports and Beer? [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[TheEngineer]

[ QUOTE ]
Eng, What do you think is the likelihood of getting a bunch of poker players to stop supporting Sports and Beer? [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Zero. Fortunately, all we have to do is switch brands for a bit and TiVo through the commercials. Budweiser sucks anyway.