This is part 2 of a multipart number of articles regarding proposed anti-gambling legislation. In this short article, I begin discussion of the quoted reasons for this legislation, and the specific facts that exist in the actual world.
The legislators want to protect us from something, or are they? The whole thing seems a little confusing to express the least.
As mentioned in the previous article, the House, and the Senate, are once more considering the issue of “Online Gambling” ;.Bills have now been submitted by Congressmen Goodlatte and Leach, and also by Senator Kyl.
The bill being put forward by Rep. Goodlatte, The Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, gets the stated intention of updating the Wire Act to outlaw all types of online gambling, to produce it illegal for a gambling business to simply accept credit and electronic transfers, and to force ISPs and Common Carriers to block use of gambling related sites at the request of law enforcement.안전놀이터
Just as does Rep. Goodlatte, Sen. Kyl, in his bill, Prohibition on Funding of Unlawful Internet Gambling, makes it illegal for gambling businesses to simply accept bank cards, electronic transfers, checks and other types of payment for the purpose on placing illegal bets, but his bill doesn’t address those that place bets.
The bill submitted by Rep. Leach, The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, is simply a copy of the bill submitted by Sen. Kyl. It is targeted on preventing gambling businesses from accepting bank cards, electronic transfers, checks, and other payments, and like the Kyl bill makes no changes from what is legal, or illegal.
So, no matter whether online gambling is legal or not, just what is it that the politicians want to protect us from? How come it so important to produce online gambling illegal?
One answer is found in this quote from Rep. Goodlatte “could keep children from borrowing the family charge card, logging to the family computer, and losing 1000s of dollars all before their parents get home from work” ;.
I do believe a good translation of this quote could be “American parents are incapable of raising their own children so Congress should part of and take action for them’ ;.Because of course we’re all conscious that the politicians have a much better concept of what is best for all of us and our children than we do.
And in another quote “In a nutshell, the Internet is challenging to the sovereignty of civilized communities, States, and nations to choose what is appropriate and decent behavior” ;.
An acceptable translation of the quote appears to be to go something similar to “Individual Americans aren’t effective at deciding for themselves what behavior is appropriate and decent in their own homes. Fortunately Congress is here to safeguard them from themselves and legislate morality for them” ;.
Not just is Congress supposedly in charge of raising the kids of America, but to be able to do this, and to stop us from unknowingly doing something indecent, they are going to legislate what we are able to do with our personal money, on our personal time, in our personal homes. Does this appear to be ab muscles type of a totally free society, or the beginnings of a misguided totalitarian state?
Let’s delve a little deeper into these protections and see precisely how interested the politicians really have been in ensuring our students are safe from the evils of gambling.
Remember, all of these following types of gambling are either currently legal, or could be made specifically legal in the bill being put forward by Rep. Goodlatte.
First, we have casinos, and race tracks. These little money makers are proliferating all over the country and generate a lot of tax revenue for federal and state governments in addition to profits because of their operators. The people behind the anti-online gambling bills would have you believe that casinos are not an issue when it comes to underage individuals, since casino staff can see the individuals face-to-face and assess their age.
Quite to the contrary however, we have this quote from The Illinois Institute for Addiction Recovery “Casino kids have now been left by themselves at the outer rim of casinos while their parents gamble, according to some casino security officers. In certain extreme cases, students are left in the family car in the casino parking lot for hours at any given time while their parents gamble inside. Less obviously, children could also spend several hours each week with babysitters while their parents gamble in casinos, bingo halls or card rooms.”
While I certainly wouldn’t attempt to claim that online gambling will work for the American family, clearly, to the extent that children can relax and play in their own homes, and sleep in their own beds, online gambling presents less of an issue than the current state supported alternative.
Another form of online gambling that the proposed legislation would exempt from illegal status is the sale of lottery tickets by the states within the internet. It is difficult to see how these legislators show deep concern for the kids of America on the basis of the following quote from Overcoming Life Digest (July/August, 1998 Issue) “Studies show that lotteries are the favorite legal gambling game for teenagers. Statistically, one of seven who play can become addicted.” And from the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey (6 June 2003), “Many regard lotteries as a comparatively benign form of gambling. However, 31 percent of callers to the 1-800-GAMBLER national hotline (operated by the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey) indicated difficulties with lottery gambling.”
In another exemplory instance of government raking in cash without regard for the kids of America, we have Video Lottery Machines. Video Lottery Machines, or VLTs are nothing more than state sponsored electronic video poker machines. According to David Plotz in Slate.com on Friday December 17th, 1999 “They are the most addictive of any gambling instrument we have today. It is really a cinch for children to play video lottery machines, as they are often found in businesses that kids frequent.” These units are now being licensed for use within supermarkets, convenience stores, bars and markets around the nation, where in fact the children of America have easy access.
Clearly, the legislation proposed doesn’t “keep children from borrowing the family charge card, logging to the family computer, and losing 1000s of dollars all before their parents get home from work”, They will be able to get lottery tickets, bet on horse races, and head down to the area convenience store to play the VLTs.