Bush Moves To Shut Down Web Gambling

White House Working To Finish Regulations Enforcing Law Against Internet Gambling

(AP)  The Bush administration is moving in its last weeks to complete regulations to enforce a controversial law that seeks to block Internet gambling. The move is drawing hot protests from Democratic lawmakers and supporters of online betting.

"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," the committee's Democratic chairman, Rep. Barney Frank, wrote this week to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

Frank asked Paulson to postpone the regulation, which was reviewed by the White House budget office last week, usually a final step before publication in the Federal Register.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said in response Tuesday that "no regulations are being rushed. They are all going through the process and getting the full due diligence required." She said she could not comment specifically on the Internet gambling rule because it was not yet final.

At issue is a law Congress passed hastily in 2006 when Senate Republicans, pushed by then-Majority Leader Bill Frist, attached it to an unrelated port security bill in a rush of year-end legislation. The law sought to curb online gambling by prohibiting financial institutions from accepting payments from credit cards, checks or electronic fund transfers to settle online wagers.

The result has been a cascade of disputes, because the law offered no clear definition of Internet gambling, instead referring to existing federal and state laws that themselves provoke differing interpretations.

Banks, credit unions and others have protested about being put in the position of enforcing an unclear law complicated by the difficulty of determining where payments are going and the fact that online betting businesses can disguise themselves with relative ease.

Officials with the Treasury and Federal Reserve testified before Frank's committee this year that they struggled to write the implementing regulation because of the law's vagueness. The regulation they proposed would require designated payment systems to establish procedures to identify and prohibit Internet gambling transactions. The regulation does not attempt a definition of illegal online gambling.

Frank's committee passed legislation in September to block the regulation and instead require rulemaking to define the term "unlawful Internet gambling."

The bill never passed the House, and the Treasury Department sent over its proposed final rule for review by the White House budget office late last month.

"It is irresponsible for the Bush administration to rush through a fundamentally flawed regulation that even representatives of the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve have stated on record is unworkable," said Jeffrey Sandman, spokesman for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative, which represents online gambling groups.

[j0xujahc]

If his buddies were benefiting he would not be pressing this case.

[missingamerica]

Payoff to Adelson.

[payasyougo]

"...Regulations Enforcing Law Against Internet Gambling"
----

If someone want''s to suggest that all gambling payments occur through paypal w/ a 3% transaction tax (collected and paid by paypal) going to the federal government I''m sure your government would have a quick change of heart...

The government is all about revenue (in case you haven''t figure it out).

[cornelius99]

That''s it. I am NEVER voting Republican AGAIN at ANY level of government. Screw the GOP; I''m going third-party for good.

[dburfears]

Until the GOP cleans up its act and stops placing the fox in charge of the hen house, NO ONE should EVER vote for these self-serving thieves again.

[shanev137]

Bush and his followers are such moronic idiots.

I can''t wait until Obama overturns this one too.

It''s going to be decades before anyone EVER takes a Republican seriously again.

[airboatboy1]

All the problems this idiot is about to leave us with and he''s dealing with internet gambling. That might have an effect on the 20% that still like you,moron!

[drinuk]

Simply Bush doing favours for his Ole'' Pals prior to riding off into the sunset.

It''s time for a little justice, these Elite crooks must NOT be allowed to simply crawl away at our expense. The time for retribution is Now!

[tmittelstaed]

None of you idiots know what your talking about.
There is NO online betting operation where the odds are in your favor of winning - every single one of them the odds are stacked against you. These sites merely make it easy for the gambling-addicted people to throw away all their money that much faster.
It''s one thing to travel to Vegas and gamble, there''s a lot of things besides gambling to do in Vegas. That''s an actual vacation. But, sitting at home in front of your computer emptying your bank account into an online gambling operation?!? Where''s the benefit in that?
I sometimes wonder if the reason the Repubs are so in favor of lotteries, gambling, and all of that is that they know those things steal money out of poor people''s pockets and the thought of some poor person being addicted to gambling makes the Repubs happy.

[slim1h2o]

It''''s very clear that the American citizens don''''t endorse this bail out. But it happened anyway.

Let nature take its course so the wealthy gamblers can reap what they sewed.

Posted by cbsfan7331 at 11:08 PM : Nov 11, 2008

Yup,, Exactly.......

[earache4]

I''ll bet ya fifty bucks Bush can''t stop online gambling....

[armydog2]

I don''t know if this is a good idea or not, all I know is that several folks I am acquainted with have gotten into very serious trouble with this.

[sleepyric]

Bush''s only good idea so far....go for it!

[sly_64]

I don''''t know if this is a good idea or not, all I know is that several folks I am acquainted with have gotten into very serious trouble with this.


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Posted by armydog2

And who''s fault is that ? They sound like irresponsible people. We don''t need government to protect us from ourselves.

[ioweign]

Gambling off the Internet and back on the Reservation...

[frankie2fing]

I don''''''''t know if this is a good idea or not, all I know is that several folks I am acquainted with have gotten into very serious trouble with this.
Posted by armydog2

And what of it? This type of person will indulge him/herself whether gambling is legal or not. Slot machines, lottery, bingo, etc. are just some of the outlets they would use. Difference is, with the exception of bingo, which the government keeps purposely small, the ''legal'' gambling is controlled by the government, so they get the profits - to spend on schools (yeah, right...hey people I have a bridge in NYC for sale). Obama should do the right thing:
Tell Bush if he pardons any of his croneys, then the full arm of the law will fall on HIM, make him take the fall for all their lawlessness. While he is at it, maybe put up a fence around Texas, it is just a human toxic waste generator.

[inketolstoy]

Does this mean he is shutting e-trade down?

[catlady1412]

I don''t gamble online. I know people who play poker on Full Tilt. I have to say, if the Repugs want smaller government, doesn''t this law make it bigger? And who do they think they are telling me whether I can sit in my living room and play poker online? The Repugs scream about giving health insurance to children but they have time to police presumed adults who are gaming online? Get out of my business, government!

[justice1776]

Prohibition has shown us that you can''t legislate morality. If the jerk gets this thru, it will be reversed very soon after he''s sent back to Crawford to shovel s*** for the rest of his miserable life.

[sly_64]

Does this mean he is shutting e-trade down?


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Posted by Inketolstoy

HaHa, oh yeah, it''s basically the same thing.

[sly_64]

Well since I see people think that e-trade is part of this, again I say GROW UP. He is talking about gambling sites, not E-Trade


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Posted by DJ_IL

I know people who lost way more money on E-Trade than on internet gambling. Don''t get me wrong, I like ETrade, but investing like that is another form of gambling.

[dronemonk]

Moe nanny state legislation. Tell me again how free we are...

[rational_1]

I''ll give you 3 to 1 odds Bush doesn''t pull this off before his term ends. Mealy-mouthed interfering gubment idjits.

[gop_will_win]

Gambling is a sin and makes the blue eyed white baby Jesus cry. Our government must stop it now or God will send pestillence on us.

[omega40]

He ignored the runaway gambling on wall street that destroyed the economy but worries about what someone may do in the privacy of their own home. This has become typical of the Republican party.

[omega40]

Gambling is a sin and makes the blue eyed white baby Jesus cry. Our government must stop it now or God will send pestillence on us.

Posted by gop_will_win

LOL! He already did, eight years of Bush, where have you been?

[sly_64]

Gambling is a sin and makes the blue eyed white baby Jesus cry. Our government must stop it now or God will send pestillence on us.


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Posted by gop_will_win

Let the pestillence continue !!!! It''s fun !

[mikezembill]

We took a chance on Bush and lost BIG-TIME.

[antoniof123]

Leave it to this administration to ignor the gambling of Wall Street of course bailt them out then turn around and worry about Internet Gambling.

Hey fiscal family value party of god here is a clue your hero is doomed to suffer from history that will judge him without mercy.

Now go sit down and let us have our country back. Keep talking and you will be even more in the minority in 2 years.

[tawpdawg111]

The stock market is online gambling. You bet your pick to go up or bet it to go down. And the worst part????????????? It is RIGGED! Surprised?

Insiders rig the information releases and drive the stock price in the direction of their choosing. And guess what.....it ain''t rigged in YOUR favor ! Imagine that!

[inventagod2]

What''s NEXT, Dubya - prohibition?

God been talkin with ya agin?

What this article fails to mention is the exclusion of off-track betting, which is still legal. Either ban all of it or ban none of it!

[citizenusa-2009]

My "bet" is that when Obama sat down to talk with Bush, he was horrified to realize our country has been run by a man who is, in effect, severely brain damaged.

Obama now knows what the American people have known for YEARS. Bush is incompetent and (as Ted Turner said)and one of the most dangerous men in the world.

The AMERICAN ECONOMY is crumbling and this wild eyed bible thumper wants to stop online gambling??? ***????

[dante805]

Why leave this for Obama, an admitted internet gambler. Seems like the wheels of Govt are turning just fine. The Messiah is here to save the auto industry so lets leave that *** in the punch bowl for him. Sorry Harry and Nan you dont get to pull one more over on the GOP this year.

[citizenusa-2009]

As a lot of posters have noted, Bush has taken the liberty of running this country based on HIS religious beliefs. He struck down stem cell research time and time again, because HIS religion does not support it! Are you kidding me? Had we elected Jerry Falwell, the result would have been the same! Prediction, Baby Bush will eventually end up in a mental institution...oh, I forgot Reagen outlawed those types of treatment centers...OH NO, Bush will be in our society!!! Take cover!!!!

[citizenusa-2009]

Baby Bush is DESPERATE and OUT OF CONTROL! He needs to be CENSORED!!! When he leaves the White House for good, the "men in white coats" will be escorting him to the "short bus".

[citizenusa-2009]

prometheus41: Sadly, you are absolutely correct. This man hid behind the Bible to impose HIS will upon the people. God help us all!

[rwcln]

But the bill says its Ok to bet the ponies and the lotto. Does Bush realize this bill is one of the reasons the democrats took both houses in the 2006 election? Maybe Bush is a closet democrat. In the meantime you can still gamble in the casinos. Freakin hypocrites.

[aldon61]

I''m not a fan of on-line gambling, but it is a moral issue and therefore a choice one has to make. Our country is a DISASTER; why in the h.ell is this even being thought about at this time? Bush needs to get the h.ell out of Dodge and stop dealing in trivial personal choices. Big Brother has already done enough!

[initialna]

Sin or not it is not the place of the government to either decide or enforce. This concept was so important that they put it at the top of the Amendments. I don%u2019t care what your personal opinion is, it%u2019s unconstitutional.

"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church & State." %u2013 Thomas Jefferson

[indianaman13]

what does separating church and state have to do with online gambling? InitialINA?

The only reason the government is trying to outlaw online poker is simply because they get no action from it. No taxes, no tariffs, or anything at all. Online horse betting they get a cut from the bookie, online or not, same goes for stocks. They get their cut from those semi-legal activities, that is why they are semi-legal. If online poker sites gave 5% of their takings, I guarantee online poker will become legal.

[indianaman13]

Hey prometheus41, you know greek mythology but not the bible? Deteronomy has whole sections about how its O.K. to slaughter a whole village, men, women, children, and livestock, if one villager worships a different God. Taking that into consideration, then Bush''s actions make sense since most those he bombed don''t believe in Jesus as our lord and Savior.

"Thou shall have no other Gods before me" was a commandment before Jesus showed up, yet now people say Jesus is God. Hmmm, God can''t contradict himself but MAN sure can.

[initialna]

either way if they are "idiots" and want to give thier money away that is thier choice, not uncle sam''s. Many of our forefathers died to provide the same freedom to the "idoit" that you enjoy. And indiana... the seperation of church and state post was intended to contend with the radicalist who posted relegious beliefs as a reason to end online gambling, when that clearly has no place in this discussion.

[jt_lancer]

Let''s see... You are a CRIMINAL if you engage in online betting. Yet, states are continuously running TV ads to encourage you a buy Lotto tickets from the state-run, monopolized lottery.

In other words, gambling is only OK if it is sanctioned by the state and they can get a piece of the action?

Sounds more like the mob to me.

Tony Soprano for President!

[jt_lancer]

azure11: "Online gambling SHOULD be ended. Or at the very least, taxed extremely heavy. If these morons want to throw their money away, then it may as well do some good for the country."

OR, you could mind your own *** business and let people make their own decisions.....

[barbaram99]

yer can''t gamble on the computer in WA state. I live here. It is barred. I don''t buy them lotty tickets. They can choose not to pay the winner. I don''t visit the casinos. If bush can make it illegal to bet on the computer , I am in favour of it. WA state yer can''t. I AM NOT A CHURCHY PERSON.

[downsteamjim]

What are the odds the regulation fails?

The only internet gambling I''m in favor of regulating is the one we make every four years on people we don''t really know saying things we don''t really understand and offering us promises we can''t really believe. Talk about your odds plummeting!

[markavelli2]

Amazing, bush has no probs deregulating whatever he can but i guess a little online gambling is too much for him? Whats the problem Bush? afraid us common folk will go broke before your taxes and corporations can wipe us clean?

[markavelli2]

Speculating oil from your home computer is more of a gamble than texas holdem. And Bush has already said he will veto any bills restricting oil speculators.

Bush is a moron. Unethical, synical, spitefull.....