Master letter thread

[TheEngineer]

My WTO letter to my conservative Republican congressman in a horse-friendly district:

June 22, 2007

The Honorable Geoff Davis
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515-1704

Dear Congressman Davis:

I am writing to express my concern regarding Antigua and Barbuda’s request to the WTO for $3.44 billion per year in commercial sanctions from U.S. businesses for our failure to comply with the World Trade Organization ruling that our Internet gambling restrictions violate our agreements per the gaming sector of the GATS agreement. It seems this filing has significant potential to harm (my state), particularly our equine industry, while gaining us nothing. As such, I ask you to help America honor our international commitments by supporting HR 2046, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act.

One notable aspect of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was its exemption of horse racing, consistent with the Interstate Horse Racing Act of 1977. This served to demonstrate to the WTO that the U.S. does not have a true moral objection to Internet gambling, as certainly one cannot argue that betting on horses is more moral than betting on cards. This played a large part in our loss at the WTO. I fear the opponents of allowing Americans to choose to play online poker may push to place the same prohibition on all interstate remote horse wagering. While this is more ideologically consistent, it would clearly harm our state’s equine industry.

Additionally, the WTO action could harm our agriculture and aerospace industries, as the European Union, Japan, China, and others have joined the action against us. The trade concessions they seek will certainly harm our industries while, again, gaining us nothing.

Many Americans wish to have the right to play poker online. Many more do not feel it is the federal government’s place to prohibit this. Some polls have shown 75% opposition to UIGEA. I do feel there will be a continued backlash in 2008 to this, especially as our party continues to fracture along ideological lines. For example, the Poker Players Alliance now has 572,274 members. I imagine these poker players will vote for freedom. I took a look at the 2006 election results for a quick analysis. Thirty-four congressmen who supported UIGEA won with less than 55% of the vote (including you). Of these, it appears roughly half are vehemently opposed to allowing Americans to decide for themselves if they can play poker after work (again, including you, at least to date). Of these, the fact that this region of the nation will be very competitive in the 2008 election leads me to conclude you would likely be in the top five of any gaming rights group’s list of legislators to actively oppose (somewhere after Chris Shays and Heather Wilson…perhaps ahead of Steve Chabot). I hope this does not happen. I support you on a number of issues, such as your strong support for the Second Amendment (another freedom issue about which many like me are passionate). I support your pro-life stance as well. However, I do share with you that many conservatives are willing to work for, and vote for, their freedoms, like we did in 1994.

I ask you to carefully consider the facts and to vote in favor of HR 2046. Let’s have a regulated, taxed, and legal Internet gaming industry (especially poker and other skill-based games). It’s not about supporting gambling; rather, it is about supporting the right of adults to make their own decisions while honoring our international commitments.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,