Posted on 08/17/2009 4:12:53 PM PDT by BluesDuke
Howard Lederer, aka "the Professor," is a professional poker player, not a gambler. If Congress will acknowledge this distinction, it will rectify one of its recent mistakes.
In 2006, Congress, cloaking cunning with moralizing, effectively outlawed Internet gambling by making it illegal for banks or credit-card companies to process payments to online gambling operations. This was more than moral pork for social conservatives. It also blocked online competitors from poaching gamblers from the nation's most aggressive promoters of gambling -- state governments. They are increasingly addicted to revenues raised by lotteries -- the 42 states that have lotteries spent $520 million in 2007 promoting them -- and from taxation of other legal gambling. The law exempted Internet state lotteries and two powerful and vocal interests -- online betting on horse racing and some fantasy sports betting online.
Having turned gambling, which once was treated as a sin, into a social policy, government looks unusually silly criminalizing online forms of it . . .
. . . [Lederer's] interest is threefold. First, his libertarian temperament -- he lives in Las Vegas, where almost anything goes -- is offended by mother-hen government. Second, he wants as many people as possible to have access to poker's delights.
Third, the more poker players there are, the larger will be the ranks of competitors, and the television audiences, for professional poker competitions. Hence the larger will be the potential winnings. This year, Lederer says, there were 6,494 competitors in the World Series of Poker Main Event, down about 1,000 from 2006, largely because more players used to win their $10,000 entry fee in online tournaments.
Congress probably should fold its interference with Internet gambling, and certainly should get its 10 thumbs off Americans' freedom to exercise their poker skills online.
(Excerpt) Read more at townhall.com ...
Don’t worry if they lose everything Obama will bail them out.
Ironic how Democrats share the same traits as Puritans. They want to get rid of everything fun.
I agree with Ronald Reagan about gambling.
You know that if beltway conservative Will is against this, then it’s that bad.
In defense of the Puritans, they wanted purity of worship.
They were enthusiastic in their feasts, drank alcohol, smoked, and judging from the average number of children, cheerfully engaged in a lot of marital activities. They went to war, shot and carried arms, and generally behaved like Republicans.
I don’t think they were democrats.
What did RR say about gambling?
Reagan
“I cannot go along with the libertarian philosophy that says that all of the sin laws can be ruled out as simply trying to protect us from ourselves. You can take the case of the father who gambles his money away and thus leaves his family dependent on the rest of us. You can take surrounding areas–the necessity for protection against dishonest gambling–which requires added government duties and obligations–”
Reagan was wrong on that one. He should have said that the state is not responsible for those people. If you mentally or physically can’t work or your disabled then we’ll help you. If you can’t take care of your kids, take them away or just feed the kids and then establish a permanent bill for child support, just like divorced parents. Freedom is more important than the government stopping stupidity.
I personally think that he was right and I share his view on the issue.
There is a reason why conservative voters are primarily social conservatives and the anti social conservative voters are primarily liberal voters.
There is a twisted reason why some people want to government to stop others from sinning. And to protect them from being stupid. It’s called government control and imposing your beliefs on others. Real conservatives don’t agree with that.
ML/NJ
The conservative voters disgree with you.
I guess your group of "conservatives" is losing. There's gambling everywhere you go.
Yes conservatives are losing, your side has won victory after victory in modern America, especially since the 1960s.
The left has “liberated” America from the restraints of it’s first 170 years.
LOL. Thanx officer.
I’m of mixed emotions on this one. Yes, I think it’s none of the government’s business, no, I despise “gambling” with a passion.
I’ll admit, I was young and stupid and deserved to lose, but still ...
poker is a game of skill. i play every day
No they don't, but unfortunately that doesn't stop some on this thread from pushing moral conservative statism.
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