goodlatte bill article

[Romanowski]

I recently talked with a Washington lobbyist who is intimately knowledgeable about some of the behind-the-scenes strategy to fight bans on offshore gambling. He touched on some interesting points that aren't being discussed much and offered some good insight into what lies ahead

LAS VEGAS - His first point was that the offshore bans aren't really gaining much traction. Many members of Congress put their names in support, but that often means next to nothing. They may not even go to bat for the bills. These representatives go back to constituents in the summer and fall and say, “I supported the efforts to XXX.”
The “XXX” is there because you really can fill in the blanks with this one. You can say you were working to undo the wrongs of Jack Abramoff. You can say you were trying to protect children. You can say you were trying to protect the country from money laundering. You can literally make it into anything you imagine. That is why it’s easy to get supporters of a bill, but not necessarily support to pass legislation.

He also pointed out that, while there is a lot of news coverage compared to the past, the coverage rarely translates into action unless it's something with an overwhelming sense of urgency. Bills to protect miners and regulate the mining industry obviously hit home harder when miners are dying. Nobody is dying because they can't ban online gambling.

When discussing the stance of the existing legal gaming companies, he said they walk a fine line here. Many realize this effort isn't just about shutting down online businesses outside the U.S. These bills are the work of anti-gambling interests, not gaming companies trying to protect their turf. When gaming companies have supported past bans, the reasons were generally beyond the understanding of the public. To gaming companies, all competitors are potential suicide bombers.

Whenever scandal comes from the gaming world, it doesn't matter if a big company like Harrah's had nothing to do with it. Scandals paint the whole industry, legal and illegal, with the same brush. As a result, legal gaming companies insist that gaming must be watched closely. Anything operating outside of regulator control is a potential disaster.

Anti-gambling people simply would like to ban the gaming industry any way they can. Give them a victory and they move onto another attempted ban. Having ATMs in casinos and serving alcohol to patrons are reported future targets. They will attempt to chip away at what is legal today. Every victory gives them courage to continue taking shots at an activity that is clearly popular with the American people.

When asked what people should do, he said writing letters to representatives is always a good idea. If you write five letters on a variety of issues, the staffers might track your letters. Your views will come across better when it comes time for issues that really matter to you. Write on issues consistently with a voice demanding more freedoms and less morality-type restrictions.

If you write just one letter to protest the Goodlatte bill, the staffers will take note of it. However, everyone will assume you are an online gambler, so your opinion is obviously skewed.

His last point was to remember this simple truth. If a local lawmaker has a choice between a $10,000 campaign check and 1,000 votes, he will almost always go with the votes. Money is easy to come by these days in Washington, but the money stops if they don't get your votes. So do write your representatives and demand a stop to this pattern of chipping away at our liberties.
March 3, 2006

[JoeyOh]

good read