Need a DIGG and a phone call to the FED: Bush pushes gambling ban via "lame duck" reg

[TheEngineer]

Please Digg this at http://digg.com/political_opinion/Bush_pushes_gambling_ban_via_lame_duck_midnight_re gulation, and please call the Fed at the number below. We have 101 diggs already, so it has a good shot. Dr. Paul has cosponsored two bills for our freedom on this issue. Thanks! :D

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http://theleachlist.blogspot.com/2008/11/fed.html

Just one week after a historic election the Poker Players Alliance (http://www.pokerplayersalliance.org) is pitted in a fight to keep anti-Internet poker regulations from being enacted and we NEED YOUR HELP!

The current Administration is hastily finalizing a number of “midnight rules” before they leave office and the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is on the list. See the 11/06 story in Dow Jones. Just like UIGEA was snuck into legislation in the dark of night in 2006, our opponents are again trying an 11th hour sneak job. We need you to help us expose and stop this reckless rulemaking.

Please call the U.S. Federal Reserve and tell them not to approve the UIGEA regulations -- Consumer Complaints, 888-851-1920 or Public Affairs, 202-452-2955.

Tell them:


The federal agencies responsible for our nation’s economy should not be focused on Internet poker regulations.
Finalization of the UIGEA rules will add additional burdens on our already crippled financial systems.
Internet poker is a game of skill and form of recreation for millions of Americans; it should be exempted from the UIGEA.
Please do not finalize the UIGEA regulations until their impact on our banking systems and average Americans has been fully studied.


Your call will make a huge difference and will add the public’s voice to these last minute policy decisions our government is poised to make. We can’t stand idly by while they make decisions that will impact our right to play America’s card game. PLEASE CALL TODAY!

[Bruno]

Just dugg

[TheEngineer]

Just dugg

Thanks!

Also, there's more info at http://pokerplayersalliance.org/

[Varin]

Didnt Liberty PAC support the sponsors of" Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006"?

Walter B. Jones

"Jones is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he cosponsored H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act[9] and voted for H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_B._Jones

Virgil Goode

"Goode is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he cosponsored H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virgil_Goode

Scott Garrett

"Garrett is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he supported H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Garrett

Michelle Bachman

"Bachmann is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Bachmann

Overall I have to say I was a bit surprised by the candidates who was endorsed by Ron Paul’s Liberty PAC. They also advocated taking porn away from the troops and investigating senators and congress members for anti American activity.

What´s up with that? Guess no candidate is perfect but anyone got more info on why this candidates was selected? Was the stance on limited government the only criteria?

[TheEngineer]

Didnt Liberty PAC support the sponsors of" Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006"?

Walter B. Jones

"Jones is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he cosponsored H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act[9] and voted for H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act"

.....

It's probably a situation where nobody's perfect and that these reps generally support limited government. Dr. Paul, of course, is one of the fiercest opponents of UIGEA on Capitol Hill.

[malkusm]

Enlighten me, since I'm new to this issue (although I agree with your stance on this issue of course):

Why call the Fed? What power does the Fed have over this bill being signed into law - shouldn't we be calling Congress?

[TheEngineer]

Enlighten me, since I'm new to this issue (although I agree with your stance on this issue of course):

Why call the Fed? What power does the Fed have over this bill being signed into law - shouldn't we be calling Congress?

Great question.

UIGEA requires Treasury and the Fed to agree on regulations prior to implementing them. Treasury has submitted their version, but the Fed has not. We feel we have a good grassroots opportunity to lobby the Fed on the matter, especially as banks have other things to do than be the Internet poker police.

[Mandrik]

Dugg, all while playing online at Full Tilt Poker here in the good 'ol USofA. Please allow responsible adults like myself the opportunity to continue playing a game of skill without the government interfering.

[mczerone]

Dugg, all while playing online at Full Tilt Poker here in the good 'ol USofA. Please allow responsible adults like myself the opportunity to continue playing a game of skill without the government interfering.

But family men will blow their whole paychecks on a game, leaving their families destitute, and he will be forced into a life of crime, stealing and looting YOUR property. We need to outlaw such frivolous wastes of resources to protect society. Most of all, we can't teach our children that its okay to profit from games of chance or by taking money from innocent people.


Anyone buying it? No?

Okay then, lets try a different reason to keep it/make it illegal: The payoffs to law enforcement so that they will look the other way and not arrest players are too good revenue sources to pass up. And all of the non-paid-off games that are broken up will give us (the State) a great excuse to confiscate all the assets of the players. Making gaming legal would cost the state money!


This, to me, is a great big issue that has legs: how many people play cards with their friends with some 'consideration' in play? Telling them that the Statists want to make card playing illegal, if presented correctly, is a perfect introduction to the asinine behavior of the state and the virtues of Liberty.

[pauletteNV]

I heard this is one of the reasons Sue Lowden, NV Republican Chairwoman, was so against Dr. Paul. She is/has been a casino owner and on the board of 9 (last I looked) different casino-related companies. Ah life in Nevada. Remember, she's the wonderful person who asked Bob Beers to gavel the NV GOP Convention recessed to stop Ron Paul votes. Do you believe in coincidences?

[itshappening]

bump for TheEngineer, a tireless and passionate advocate

I hope you have a good strategy for dealing with the Democrats in the future?

[mczerone]

I heard this is one of the reasons Sue Lowden, NV Republican Chairwoman, was so against Dr. Paul. She is/has been a casino owner and on the board of 9 (last I looked) different casino-related companies. Ah life in Nevada. Remember, she's the wonderful person who asked Bob Beers to gavel the NV GOP Convention recessed to stop Ron Paul votes. Do you believe in coincidences?

You're a crazy conspiracy theorist. Public officials would never promulgate laws that would confer an economic benefit to themselves while limiting the freedoms of the public at large.

Never, I tell you!

[TheEngineer]

bump for TheEngineer, a tireless and passionate advocate

I hope you have a good strategy for dealing with the Democrats in the future?

Thanks! :D

I think we'll be able to deal with the Dems. We have good relationships with key politicians in both major parties.

Everyone: this has 194 diggs now. If you've not yet dugg it, it just needs a few more. Thanks!

[TheEngineer]

We can also leave comments at:

http://www.federalreserve.gov/feedback.cfm

[TheEngineer]

274 diggs now. Almost there.

[mczerone]

This (http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSTRE4A97TB20081110) seems relevant to the thread:


Frank urges U.S. delay Internet gambling rules

By Doug Palmer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior congressional Democrat on Monday accused the Bush administration of rushing to implement Internet gambling rules that have raised concerns among banks before it leaves office on January 20.

"I am deeply disappointed to hear that your agency is proceeding with what I consider to be unseemly haste in issuing regulations implementing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act," House Financial Committee Chairman Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

"This midnight rulemaking will tie the hands of the new Administration, burden the financial services industry at a time of economic crisis, and contradict the stated intent of the Financial Services Committee," Frank said.

The U.S. Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve are required to issue new rules on Internet gambling under a bill Congress passed 2006, when Republicans were still in control of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

That bill, which cost EU Internet gambling companies billions of euro in lost market value, prohibited companies from accepting payments in connection with "unlawful Internet gambling."

But rather than define what types of gambling are illegal online, the bill relied on existing Federal and state laws to answer that question. It also still allowed any online horserace betting permissible under the Interstate Horseracing Act of 1978.

That has caused confusion and at a hearing in April both Treasury and Federal Reserve officials told Frank's committee they were "struggling" to determine what type of online gambling was illegal under the bill.

"The challenge we have is interpreting ... federal laws that Congress itself isn't sure what they mean," said Louise Roseman, the Fed's director of reserve bank operations and payment systems.

The House Financial Services Committee passed legislation in September that would block implementation of the new regulations, but neither the full House or the Senate has followed up with a vote on the measure.

In response to Frank's letter to Paulson, a Treasury spokeswoman said the Treasury and the Fed were working together "to gather considerable public comment and complete these regulations as directed by Congress."

Meanwhile, the European Commission has been investigating whether the U.S. Justice Department was unfairly singling out EU Internet gambling companies for enforcement in response to the 2006 law.

An EU team who visited Washington in September to investigate the issue, is expected to release its report by the end of the November. Depending on what it says, that could set the stage for the European Commission to bring action against the United States at the World Trade Organization

[TheEngineer]

Thanks for the diggs! It hit the front page. It hit at 365 diggs (the pro-liberty submissions seem to require a lot of diggs for some reason), so it needed every digg it got.