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Online Gambling Prohibition Stands 100-1 Odds of Being Reverted by Congress Before 2010
The good news: The New York Giants were bigger long shots to win the 2008 Super Bowl than 100-1 odds heading into this past NFL season. The bad news - we here at Gambling911.com are perhaps being a little too generous giving online gambling prohibition those types of odds.
You may have read in the press how on Tuesday June 24, The US House Committee on Financial Services is to vote to dissolve the controversial Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.
News flash: The vote related to the UIGEA is scheduled to be discussed after other issues on Tuesday's docket. We suspect the home mortgage crisis is among the more pressing priorities. Likewise, the vote on an Internet gambling prohibition repeal might not happen until Wednesday as the meeting will take place over a two day period. And while sources close to Gambling911 said that online gambling could come up some time Tuesday as opposed to Wednesday, there is also the possibility it will not come up at all.
It matters in one sense and doesn't matter in another. Spearheaded by Congressmen Barney Frank and Ron Paul, (H.R. 5767) would prohibit the Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve System from proposing, prescribing or implementing any regulations related to the current ban on internet gambling. Frank's bill, however, must be passed in the House and the Senate before the end of this year. That may seem like plenty of time to the uninformed but for anyone inside Washington, it's common knowledge that the Congressional calendar varies greatly from everyone else's. In other words, six remaining months barely translate into two remaining Congressional months.
For those who may be unaware, Barney's bill cannot carry on to the next year. If it's not passed by November, H.R. 5767 is no more and Barney must start his efforts from scratch beginning after January. This is the exact reason the online gambling industry was caught off guard when Arizona Senator Jon Kyl finally managed to get the UIGEA passed. We will emphasize the word "finally". That's because it took seven years for Kyl and his friends to finally get a bill passed that would make some forms of gambling on the Web illegal. October 2006 followed the same trends as in previous years, legislation needed to pass in both the Senate and House just as Congress was preparing to recess for the year. Things were different in 2006 though. Kyl mastered his skills with the 6th attempt (note - he skipped over one of the aforementioned seven years). This enabled the coy Senator to build key alliances and tack his bill onto an unrelated port security act. But this was before earmarks became a major election issue and few if any politicians will want to be caught engaging in such activity over the next year. Therefore, Kyl's strategy is not available to Barney Frank in the near term (next twelve months).
Essentially time is not on the side of Barney Frank and his friends in Congress when it comes to getting his Internet gambling measure passed before the end of 2008.
Is it really logical that Frank will wipe out the UIGEA in a matter of days? Not only is it illogical, it's impossible. The voting scheduled for either Tuesday or Wednesday will only serve as a "procedural speed bump" in order to buy time.
"This attempt will force the US Treasury to go back and describe precisely what an unlawful online gambling transaction actual is," a source within Washington told Gambling911.com. "This is not voting to do away with the UIGEA, it is voting to slow things down and garner more support."
The vote would take place within the House Subcommittee and essentially prevent enforcement of the UIGEA for a brief period of time while Frank and friends muster up more support. The pro online gambling lobbyists have been pouring plenty of money into their efforts, make no mistake about it. But all the money in the world won't erase the fact that there remain powerful members in both the House and Senate who do not want to see Barney's bill passed, which leads us to our next point.
The bill must pass in both the House and the Senate. Forget the House for a moment and the potential opposition that may arise there. The Senate does not even have a comparable bill related to the mortgage crisis. Is anyone to believe they will have a bill related to online gambling by year's end?
"Let's say you find someone in the Senate who can fast track this (Barney's efforts), it must then be brought to committee," our Washington insider points out. "In the current environment you can only fast track the stuff that deals with national security. There won't be any unrelated attachments with the American people watching so intently during an election year."
Congress takes close to a two month summer vacation that the conventions begin.
"Important bills do not get passed between Election Day and January 21 (when the new administration comes into office)," our source made clear. "George Bush will not bomb Iran during this lame duck period of time. Only minor housekeeping takes place during this time. It's tradition."
So you can forget November and December for trying to get Barney Frank's bill passed. Again, that leaves us with barely two months to work with.
And one can forget all of 2009 as well for that matter.
"The first year of change (in the administration) won't be sympathetic to online gambling. The new politicians will be too busy jockeying for positions, settling in and making sure they are on their best behavior. By best behavior, they will be focused intently on matters that have gained the most public interest for which legalizing online gambling is not one of them. We are talking national security, the economy, the oil crisis, etc..."
The only expedient means of abolishing the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act: Have it struck down in the courts.
That's where The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) comes into play (see site here).
Joe Brennan, Jr., Founder of iMEGA, remains skeptical that anything can take place in Congress before the year is out. His organization is currently challenging the legality of the UIGEA in the Supreme Court and has the backing of most major online gambling establishments based out of Costa Rica, considered among the industry pioneers.
"Our attitude (iMEGA and its members) is that we are most concerned with defining what an unlawful Internet gambling transaction is because this is something that we feel Congress should be making a determination," Brennan Jr. told Gambling911.com. "We are talking about Americans rights online arbitrarily being tossed around and determined by a small group - The Treasury Department (in this case). We feel it is important the law needs to be struck down in the Courts. Congress needs to affirm Americans Constitutional rights online so that they are consistent with American's Constitutional rights off line.
"Absent that, this is one more step down the slippery slope our members have feared since the UIGEA passed because our rights are being determined or taken away by a small handful of people who were not duly elected."
The vote slated for Tuesday or Wednesday a death knell to the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act?
"Not even close!" Brennan, Jr. said, emphatically.
-----
http://www.gambling911.com/online-gambling-062408.html
The good news: The New York Giants were bigger long shots to win the 2008 Super Bowl than 100-1 odds heading into this past NFL season. The bad news - we here at Gambling911.com are perhaps being a little too generous giving online gambling prohibition those types of odds.
You may have read in the press how on Tuesday June 24, The US House Committee on Financial Services is to vote to dissolve the controversial Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.
News flash: The vote related to the UIGEA is scheduled to be discussed after other issues on Tuesday's docket. We suspect the home mortgage crisis is among the more pressing priorities. Likewise, the vote on an Internet gambling prohibition repeal might not happen until Wednesday as the meeting will take place over a two day period. And while sources close to Gambling911 said that online gambling could come up some time Tuesday as opposed to Wednesday, there is also the possibility it will not come up at all.
It matters in one sense and doesn't matter in another. Spearheaded by Congressmen Barney Frank and Ron Paul, (H.R. 5767) would prohibit the Department of the Treasury and Federal Reserve System from proposing, prescribing or implementing any regulations related to the current ban on internet gambling. Frank's bill, however, must be passed in the House and the Senate before the end of this year. That may seem like plenty of time to the uninformed but for anyone inside Washington, it's common knowledge that the Congressional calendar varies greatly from everyone else's. In other words, six remaining months barely translate into two remaining Congressional months.
For those who may be unaware, Barney's bill cannot carry on to the next year. If it's not passed by November, H.R. 5767 is no more and Barney must start his efforts from scratch beginning after January. This is the exact reason the online gambling industry was caught off guard when Arizona Senator Jon Kyl finally managed to get the UIGEA passed. We will emphasize the word "finally". That's because it took seven years for Kyl and his friends to finally get a bill passed that would make some forms of gambling on the Web illegal. October 2006 followed the same trends as in previous years, legislation needed to pass in both the Senate and House just as Congress was preparing to recess for the year. Things were different in 2006 though. Kyl mastered his skills with the 6th attempt (note - he skipped over one of the aforementioned seven years). This enabled the coy Senator to build key alliances and tack his bill onto an unrelated port security act. But this was before earmarks became a major election issue and few if any politicians will want to be caught engaging in such activity over the next year. Therefore, Kyl's strategy is not available to Barney Frank in the near term (next twelve months).
Essentially time is not on the side of Barney Frank and his friends in Congress when it comes to getting his Internet gambling measure passed before the end of 2008.
Is it really logical that Frank will wipe out the UIGEA in a matter of days? Not only is it illogical, it's impossible. The voting scheduled for either Tuesday or Wednesday will only serve as a "procedural speed bump" in order to buy time.
"This attempt will force the US Treasury to go back and describe precisely what an unlawful online gambling transaction actual is," a source within Washington told Gambling911.com. "This is not voting to do away with the UIGEA, it is voting to slow things down and garner more support."
The vote would take place within the House Subcommittee and essentially prevent enforcement of the UIGEA for a brief period of time while Frank and friends muster up more support. The pro online gambling lobbyists have been pouring plenty of money into their efforts, make no mistake about it. But all the money in the world won't erase the fact that there remain powerful members in both the House and Senate who do not want to see Barney's bill passed, which leads us to our next point.
The bill must pass in both the House and the Senate. Forget the House for a moment and the potential opposition that may arise there. The Senate does not even have a comparable bill related to the mortgage crisis. Is anyone to believe they will have a bill related to online gambling by year's end?
"Let's say you find someone in the Senate who can fast track this (Barney's efforts), it must then be brought to committee," our Washington insider points out. "In the current environment you can only fast track the stuff that deals with national security. There won't be any unrelated attachments with the American people watching so intently during an election year."
Congress takes close to a two month summer vacation that the conventions begin.
"Important bills do not get passed between Election Day and January 21 (when the new administration comes into office)," our source made clear. "George Bush will not bomb Iran during this lame duck period of time. Only minor housekeeping takes place during this time. It's tradition."
So you can forget November and December for trying to get Barney Frank's bill passed. Again, that leaves us with barely two months to work with.
And one can forget all of 2009 as well for that matter.
"The first year of change (in the administration) won't be sympathetic to online gambling. The new politicians will be too busy jockeying for positions, settling in and making sure they are on their best behavior. By best behavior, they will be focused intently on matters that have gained the most public interest for which legalizing online gambling is not one of them. We are talking national security, the economy, the oil crisis, etc..."
The only expedient means of abolishing the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act: Have it struck down in the courts.
That's where The Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Association (iMEGA) comes into play (see site here).
Joe Brennan, Jr., Founder of iMEGA, remains skeptical that anything can take place in Congress before the year is out. His organization is currently challenging the legality of the UIGEA in the Supreme Court and has the backing of most major online gambling establishments based out of Costa Rica, considered among the industry pioneers.
"Our attitude (iMEGA and its members) is that we are most concerned with defining what an unlawful Internet gambling transaction is because this is something that we feel Congress should be making a determination," Brennan Jr. told Gambling911.com. "We are talking about Americans rights online arbitrarily being tossed around and determined by a small group - The Treasury Department (in this case). We feel it is important the law needs to be struck down in the Courts. Congress needs to affirm Americans Constitutional rights online so that they are consistent with American's Constitutional rights off line.
"Absent that, this is one more step down the slippery slope our members have feared since the UIGEA passed because our rights are being determined or taken away by a small handful of people who were not duly elected."
The vote slated for Tuesday or Wednesday a death knell to the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act?
"Not even close!" Brennan, Jr. said, emphatically.
-----
http://www.gambling911.com/online-gambling-062408.html
