Congress Battles Yet Again:1
We have been following the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement act and its
newly added regulations, as it turns out there may not be as much hope as we
thought for the incoming Congress to overturn the last minute online casino
regulations that the Bush Administration is putting into place. The media has
been harshly criticizing the Bush administration for its “midnight rulings” in
the UIGEA and putting the burden on the financial institutions of the United
States to deny any illegal internet gambling activity during this time of
economic woes. The Birmingham News reported recently that there has been a ‘line
drawn’ when it comes to overturning any of the regulations that have recently
been enacted.
One Alabama Representative, Spencer Bachus, has been against the online casino
industry for a long time and he says that the new Congress will not overturn the
new policies in 2009. It is arguable that the so called ‘midnight rulings’ are
almost as controversial in the media as the Act itself. The regulations were
attached to a must-pass security bill and were passed during a late night
Congress session. In fact, most politicians who voted for the security bill had
no idea that the regulations against online casinos and internet gambling were
even there. This places a burden on the US financial institutions in a time when
their time needs to be spent trying to fix the economy.
Online casinos are illegal in the United States, but there seems to be several
exceptions to the internet gambling rules. For example, it is perfectly legal to
purchase lottery tickets online. It is also legal to bet on horse races and
fantasy sports drafts, yet it is illegal to play slots at an online casino. Some
would argue that Americans have a right to choose what they spend their extra
income on. Who is the government to tell its people what they can and can not
spend their money on? Is this not a democracy?