SENATE GAMBLING BILL STALLS!!!!

[Forbin001]

Happy days are here again!! Read on....



Internet Gambling Bill Stalled and unlikely to Pass In Senate

written September 13, 2006

It appears that the Internet gambling bill won't make it through the Senate this year, thanks largely to the banking industry.

In July, the House of Representatives passed an anti-Internet gambling bill that would:

--clarify that the 1961 Wire Act prevents companies from accepting online wagers;

--bar credit-card companies from processing payments to online gaming sites; and

--ban banks from processing electronic funds transfers or e-checks for online gambling transactions.

A similar measure is pending in the Senate but faces significant opposition.

Of more importance, the banking sector has voiced strong opposition to provisions that require banks to block electronic funds transfers or e-check payments to online gambling sites. These provisions are essentially broad and unenforceable, the banks claim; moreover, even if it were possible to surmount technical obstacles, prospective gamblers could easily use alternative means to finance such transactions.

No bill is likely before the end of this legislative year, leaving the online gambling issue to the new Congress, which convenes in January 2007.

This is great news for those who enjoy Internet Gambling.

[sdaddy]

^Well, I'm not popping the champagne yet, as this is still pending legislation and you've got crafty operators like Senator Kyl who will look for any opportunity to bring this to a vote.

And do you have a link for this news item?

[sneakattack]

Good story, this sort of thing always makes me smile.

[jetset]

Sugardaddy is right - these politicians are wiley beasts!

Take a look at the latest manouevreing from Senator Frist, who is turning out to be almost as devious as Jon Kyl in his attempts to get a ban on the Senate floor at any cost:

WASHINGTON

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is trying use a bill authorizing U.S. military operations, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, to prohibit people from using credit cards to settle Internet gambling debts.

Frist, R-Tenn., and his aides have been meeting with other lawmakers and officials in both the House and Senate to get the measure attached to a compromise Defense Department authorization bill, according to a Senate GOP leadership aide.

The House passed a version of the Internet gambling measure in July, but the Senate has taken no action on similar legislation. Neither of the defense bills passed by the House and Senate mention it.

Frist is pushing for an approach that isn't quite as sweeping as the House measure, said the leadership aide and lobbyists following the issue. All spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing negotiations.

Frist, eyeing a 2008 presidential bid, recently discussed the online gambling measure in the politically important state of Iowa. He also called it a legislative priority in a recent speech on the Senate floor.

The measure's supporters include the National Football League as well as conservative and antigambling groups. Some banking groups are lobbying against it.

Federal officials have made recent arrests involving offshore companies operating Internet gambling sites. The Internet gambling industry is headquartered almost entirely outside the United States although many of its customers live in the U.S.

The bills authorizing defense programs are: S.2507 and H.R.5122.

It will be interesting to see what this phrase means: "Frist is pushing for an approach that isn't quite as sweeping as the House measure...." too!

[lots0]

Senator Frist and his days in power are growing very very short, after November 8th the odds are he will no longer be Speaker and he won’t even have the power to stop his own ass from being investigated and going to jail for what he has done...

There is going to be a MAJOR shake up in Congress in just a few weeks, most if not all the opponents of Online Gambling are going to have much more important things to worry about.

[sdaddy]

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is trying use a bill authorizing U.S. military operations, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, to prohibit people from using credit cards to settle Internet gambling debts.

That's the kind of tactic that's used to get something through that would otherwise fail to pass on it's own. Pretty shady, IMO.

[yameater]

?Senator Frist and his days in power are growing very very short, after November 8th the odds are he will no longer be Speaker and he won’t even have the power to stop his own ass from being investigated and going to jail for what he has done...

There is going to be a MAJOR shake up in Congress in just a few weeks, most if not all the opponents of Online Gambling are going to have much more important things to worry about.

Amen! Why that beady eyed little..... why, I outta! Gamblers in the US, let's shake it up people. get out there and vote!

[webber286]

Looks like it failed to get attached to the defense bill. Time is running short as Congress takes their recess at the end of next week. Keeping the fingers and toes crossed.

[cipher]

That's the kind of tactic that's used to get something through that would otherwise fail to pass on it's own. Pretty shady, IMO.

And Frist is at it again according to an update that I just received from NROG:

NROG has learned that Sen. Bill Frist (R-TN) has worked out a compromise on gambling legislation and is once again attempting to attach it to the DoD Appropriations Bill currently in conference. This bill is due to be released to the floors of both houses sometime on Monday September, 25th.

Your active support is urgently requested. Please call your Senators and voice your concern. Please also call Sen. Levin (D-MI) and Sen. Warner (R-VA) and express your disgust for this backdoor attempt. These two Senators have the power to stop Frist today. Please give them a reason to by getting vocal.

Sen. Levin: (202) 224-6221
Sen. Warner: (202) 224-2023

Have a good one.

[jetset]

Looks like Frist's second attempt to get his measure attached to the Defence bill has failed as well - Sen. Warner is taking a strong position on this - he doesn't want his vital legislation cluttered up and possibly held up by extraneous and unrelated matter such as Frist and Hastert are attempting to introduce.

This is the position as at last night US time (26/27 September)

WASHINGTON

Republican leaders in the House and Senate were blocked Wednesday by a senior GOP senator in their efforts to add immigration, handgun and Internet gambling measures to a defense bill.


Sen. John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, rejected appeals from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and House Speaker Dennis Hastert to use his bill on military pay raises as a vehicle for their pet measures.

Warner said in a memo to Frist he is "firmly opposed" to including unrelated bills in the defense bill. Two other Republicans also oppose the add-on bills, Warner said.

Hastert had insisted on adding to the defense bill a measure the House passed last week that would make it easier to detain and deport illegal immigrants who are members of violent criminal street gangs.

The speaker also wanted to use the defense bill as a vehicle for a House measure allowing judges to carry handguns and bolstering courthouse security in response to the murder of a Chicago federal judge's husband and mother last year.

Warner balked at both, saying he wanted to keep the defense bill bipartisan at a time when U.S. troops are at war. Warner said that he, along with Democrats and at least two other Republicans, would not sign off on it or any other "out-of-scope" bills that were added.

"There are not even sufficient signatures to affect a partisan Republican" defense bill, he said.

Senate Democrats, including Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., support tightening court security. But the House-passed version allowing judges to carry concealed weapons cooled their support for the measure. Democrats also oppose aspects of the immigration bill, which has drawn fire from immigration rights groups.

Hastert said Tuesday he has offered to drop the provision allowing judges to carry a concealed weapon.

Frist, eyeing a 2008 presidential bid, has been pushing for the Internet gambling crackdown. Among other things, the provision would ban the use of credit cards, checks and other forms of payment to settle online wagers.