Republicans and Online Poker: Can’t We Be Friends?
I often rail against members of the Democrat Party for blindly supporting the agenda of their left-wing leaders. Too often, they parrot the talking points script with no understanding of the facts or, worse yet, the consequences, unintended or otherwise, that such policies would inflict on the US economy or our personal liberties. Well, suffice it to say, the Republicans are guilty of such nonsense at times as well and today’s post is going to point out one such issue.
In 2006, Congress passed the Security and Accountability For Every Port Act (SAFE Port) which enhanced port security. The bill passed the House by a 421-2 vote in May of that year and the Senate passed it 98-0 on September 14th. Who doesn’t want improved port security, right? Well a funny thing happened when the bill went to conference. Thanks to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), who received contributions from land-based casinos, Senator John Kyl (R-AZ), and Representative Jim Leach (R-IA) the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) was attached to the SAFE Port bill on September 29th even though it was never debated in any congressional committee. At midnight on September 30th, the day before Congress adjourned for mid-term elections, the SAFE Port Act with its new UIGEA attachment was passed. Due to a resolution (H.RES.1064) sponsored by Representative Pete Sessions (R-TX), the reading of the conference committee report where UIGEA was added was waived before the vote.
The goal of UIGEA is to prohibit financial institutions from enabling money transfers to offshore casinos that provide internet users with “games of chance”. This includes online lotteries, casino games such as blackjack and craps, sports betting, and of course, online poker. Interestingly, horse race betting and fantasy sports were excluded…wonder why? UIGEA has absolutely nothing to do with United States port security and attaching it to “must-pass” legislation like the SAFE Port Act without having it stand before a vote on its own merits is yet another example of members of Congress cramming their agenda down our throats under cover. If we, as citizens, let Congress get away with these tactics on issues as relatively small as UIGEA, why are we surprised that Congress has the stones to try it with something as big as government-run healthcare? Reconciliation, anyone? But I digress…
Besides the methodology by which UIGEA was enacted into law, my chief concern is that poker was included as one of the “games of chance”. Unlike games like blackjack or craps, a poker player is playing against other poker players, not the house. In fact, the house (online poker site in this case) has an incentive to provide players with a safe, fair and fun playing environment since their money is made not on whether you win or lose but on a percentage, called rake (usually around 5%-10%), of each pot or tournament entry fee. At the first sign of foul play, poker players will leave a site in droves for one of its competitors and the revenues will quickly dry up. I did not and would not play online casino games due to my inherent distrust of a game where my opponent, the house, is running the software and makes money if I lose and loses money if I win.
Furthermore, I will submit to you that while chance plays a part in poker (every poker player has bad beat stories), it is primarily a game of skill and takes playing hundreds of thousands of hands before one can truly begin to master the skill aspects of the game. Understanding and calculating pot odds, the betting patterns of your opponents, and proper style of play at various stages of a tournament are just three of the vital skills that must be learned and mastered in order to achieve long-term success in poker. It is not surprising to see many of the same names over and over at the final tables of poker tournaments around the globe. These men and women became pros of their game in much the same way that Albert Pujols or Kobe Bryant became pros of theirs – practice, practice, practice along with skill and God-given talent, whether cerebral or physical.
Why not just play at a casino? I enjoy playing at a casino every once in awhile but quite frankly, I enjoy online poker for the same reason I pay my bills online – it is convenient, cheaper and much more efficient. The rake at a casino is typically higher than online and I don’t have to drive to an online casino. A typical online site can deal 70-80 hands of poker an hour, while in a casino you would be lucky to get half that amount. In addition, if you have an annoying person playing at your table online you can just mute their chat and at home, I enjoy access to my own TV, refrigerator and bathroom. The bottom line is that we as Americans should have the freedom to play poker online.
So back to the Republicans…Most of them continue to toe the party line on this subject with Rep. Ron Paul (TX) being a notable exception. Every time a bill or resolution to clarify or delay the regulations imposed by UIGEA comes before a committee, the Republicans tend to oppose it as a block, yet I can not help but believe that most of them have not given an ounce of thought to this topic. They simply vote as the leadership, such as Senator Kyl, tells them to vote. Senator Kyl went so far as to delay nominations of Treasury department personnel because he was mad that Obama postponed administration of UIGEA regulations until June 2010. Hey John, here’s a thought, how about helping Senate Republicans craft a unified plan to show us great unwashed folks why you are better than the Democrats before we go to vote in November? Think you might put some effort into that or are you too busy with your little pet issues? For the rest of you, how about checking with your constituents before falling in lock-step with your party leadership? A 2006 Zogby poll showed that 71% of Americans believe that government should not be restricting adults from gambling with online sportbooks or casinos. If you asked just about online poker, I would bet the percentage would be even higher based on the popularity of poker on television the last half decade. So why do the Republicans keep running like lemmings to the “no” button each time? Make your own opinion. I got mine.
I would like to see online gambling, and poker specifically, moved on-shore. Allow Harrah’s, home of the World Series of Poker, MGM, or the Venetian to buy licenses to run online gambling sites and pay taxes on the revenue. Americans made up 50% of the $15 billion online gambling industry in 2006. The US government is closing off a potential revenue source by attempting to outlaw online poker versus bringing it on-shore and regulating it. The sad part is the poker industry is feverishly holding its hand up and saying regulate and tax me! Two bills on this specific issue, H.R. 2267 and S. 1597, are currently working their way through Congress. I would ask that the Republicans keep an open mind and put some thought into this one and, dare I say it, check the pulse of their constituents before simply voting no because Senator John Kyl and other tunnel-vision colleagues tell them to do so.
My trip to DC
I spent the front half of last week in our nation’s capitol and whenever I visit Washington DC, I like to hit as many government offices and/or historical sites as possible during my downtime. In addition to attending and working the Federation of American Hospital conference, I had three other agenda items – take a Capitol tour, meet with John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, and meet with Representative Kenny Marchant, my House rep from TX District-24. Unfortunately, Marchant was unavailable on Tuesday (the only day I had available) but his scheduler was kind enough to call me on Wednesday to inform me that he could see me later that afternoon as I was already halfway between DC and Philly. Sigh. Oh well, I guess two out of three isn’t all bad.
My chief reason for wanting a sit-down with Rep. Marchant was to discuss the legislation known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) which makes it illegal for banks to allow online poker players from transferring funds into online gaming accounts. I will save my discussion about the Republican Party’s ridiculous stance against online poker for another post, but it was important to me to get in front of Marchant about this issue since he is a member of the House Finance committee that will be marking up a bill soon that would overturn this element of UIGEA. This is probably the only topic that Barney Frank and I are on the same side and for that, I am really disappointed in the Republican Party.
John Pappas at the PPA and I had an excellent conversation and he and a staffer at the organization provided me with a great deal of facts and figures as well as summaries of pending legislation in advance of my meeting with Marchant. They even put my name on “the list” to participate in a charity poker tournament on Wednesday night at the DC Hyatt, but I told them that it wouldn’t be fair for me to win all the money from the charity and that it should be put to better use. Still wonder why they looked at me oddly…but seriously, I couldn’t play since I would be in Philly that night. I will be working to get my points in front of Rep. Marchant in the coming weeks either via letter or in person at his Grand Prairie office.
The highlight of the agenda was the tour of the Capitol. Despite half a dozen trips to DC, I had never gone on the tour and I am a big believer that it is a must-do for all citizens in their lifetime. The tour itself only takes about an hour and it consists of a short film and a walk-through of The Crypt, where Washington was originally suppose to be buried, The Rotunda, and the famous “whisper room” which was the original chamber for the House of Representatives. The amazing thing about the whisper room, and the thing that congressmen hated about it, is that the acoustics are such that a person standing on one side of the room can hear a person’s whisper on the opposite side of the chamber as if they were standing right next to them. I had read about this room before, but when I witnessed it in person, I was amazed! I could only imagine how many secret conversations were “overheard” before folks caught on.
After the tour, I was able to get tickets into both the Senate and House chambers. These are completely free to the public and you can obtain each from your respective House member or Senator’s office across the street from the Capitol. Both chambers were in session that day and I was able to sit in the “stands” and watch rather mundane activities as well as a couple of speeches given on the floor of each chamber. What I thought was funny was that NO ONE is in the chamber when the Senator or Representative gives his or her speech with the exception of the Congressperson presiding over the chamber at that time, congressional clerks and some pages. Heck I could give a hell of a speech if no one is there to watch it. It was the proverbial tree falling in the forest. The exercise appeared to merely be a formal way of getting their remarks on the record, but the next time I hear someone say they gave a speech on the floor of the Senate or House, I can not help but wonder how many people were there to hear it.
The other thing that surprised me was the pace of the proceedings. Everything…seemed…to….move….so…slowly. The amount of time the clerks, pages, stenographers, etc. were just sitting around doing nothing amazed me. And the PAPER. I have never seen so much paper shuffling in my life. Every individual that walked into the chamber had papers in the hands that they handed to a clerk who would stamp it or pass it to someone else. So much for going green…
All of this fascinated me, but it also served as a reminder of how inefficient our government operates. Can we even begin to fathom the bureaucratic nightmare that government-run health care would become?
I was also reminded of another thing during my stint in Washington DC this week. We have got to make fixing Congress our first priority. This body controls the purse strings, writes the legislation, and promotes regulations that impact all of us. It is easy to become fixated on the President and his policies, but our real issues in this country begin with primarily one body of government – Congress. More thoughts on this coming soon…
Fun with Plug-Ins
Okay, I wanted to try out this YouTube plug-in I just uploaded so this is my first, and hopefully successful, attempt to use it. What better first upload than Alfonzo Rachel’s take on Conservatism. Enjoy! (assuming it works)
Edit: Good news is that it works, but Zo took down the video so I have replaced with another of his rants.
Healthcare Reform Summit and Other Ways to Lose 7-1/2 Hours of Your Life
Yawn…What time is it?
I am sorry, I must have nodded off during the healthcare reform summit which surprises me since I normally am on the edge of my seat during high-adrenaline TV. I must have been really tired…
And you must have been dreaming if you actually thought that the healthcare reform summit today would end in any other way than it did – hopelessly partisan. In fact, I could have been abducted this morning by aliens, subjected to horrible tortures for 7-1/2 hours, placed back in my recliner as the aliens found me and I would not even know that I was missing 7-1/2 hours of my life until I was hypnotized 25 years from now at a carnival I attend with my grandkids. Nothing is any different. If that was meant to be political theater, I want my money back.
I will give the Republicans credit for bringing the talking points so that anyone unfamiliar with the healthcare issue and a broken TV stuck on C-Span could get the Republican side of the issue, but seriously, they knew this was an exercise in futility the minute Obama posted his 2,400 page bill on Monday as the “starting point”. This was meant to be nothing more than Obama’s attempt to say, “I tried to be bi-partisan but those obstinate Republicans just wouldn’t budge and you saw it all on TV.” Fortunately, the Republicans refused to fall for the parlor tricks and pre-planned “gotcha” moments. How about these nuggets?
- Calling out Republican Minority Whip Eric Cantor for bringing in political props. The prop in question? Obama’s own 2,400-page bill!!
- Obama waiting for Senator McCain to speak so that he could sternly insert his “John, we aren’t in campaign-mode anymore” line as a zinger. The problem was that he used it at a time that didn’t even fit so it felt forced and canned.
- All the thoughtful poses struck by Obama as Republicans would speak as if he was so carefully weighing all the points being made. For this Obama might earn an Oscar from the Academy.
So where does this all leave us? The Democrats saying that they can’t get any GOP support so they must carry on by themselves in their attempt to cram this down America’s throat. The most telling comment of the day goes to President Obama. He suggested that the Democrats would have to move forward without GOP support by using controversial budget rules in the Senate that do not allow filibusters. He then said that the fall elections would provide the verdict about who was right.
Mr. President, I will take no solace in telling you “I told you so” in November if we’ve already let you add another crushing entitlement program to a US economy that is heading toward bankruptcy. I choose to kill this bill now and then take my chances this fall.
The Man with a Plan
The Republican Party continues to be labeled by those in power as the “Party of No” and it is their own fault. If I were them, I would do two things from a public relations standpoint. First, fire my PR firm. This outfit (if such a thing even exists) has not come up with a single creative idea to present the America public with actual alternatives to the Democrats’ “solutions”. Indeed, the minority leaders have held their press conferences and posted to the web their reasoning for rejecting much of the legislation, but, let’s face it, most Americans would rather watch American Idol or Lost than some politician stand behind a podium and talk about policy. In addition, the mainstream media, with the notable exception of Fox, is not spending much airtime or print space on what the Republicans are saying. I would argue that were it not for conservative talk radio and Fox News, we would already have government-run healthcare WITH a public option. Conservatives on radio have done an outstanding job of presenting the American people with the realities of the Democrats’ “solutions” and it has led to the very entertaining townhalls last summer as well as a grass roots movement (Tea, anyone?) that has helped to turn the political playing field on its ear. I personally do not believe that the Republican Party on its own could have mustered enough fire in the belly of the common man to have slowed and possibly killed healthcare “reform” and Cap-and Trade. The Republicans are lousy marketers and apparently they are incapable of hiring a firm that can fill this void. The problem with the the public getting educated by talk radio and Fox News is that the broadcasters are not responsible for writing bills that could take the place of the lousy proposed legislation trying to be forced down our collective gullets today. Which brings me to my second objective…
COME UP WITH AN ALTERNATIVE PLAN! Now I do not mean to paint every Republican congressperson with a broad brush, but on the whole, the party had not created a simple yet effective alternative plan to stand behind in lieu of what the Democrats are pitching. A few, Senator Coburn and Rep. Price to name a couple, have proposed alternative healthcare bills but almost no one in America knows it (see paragraph above for one reason why). The Republican Party, as best as I can tell, has let these few brave souls fend for themselves in trying to get the message out about their plans. There is no united front and certainly no effort to drag the Democrat proposal into the court of public opinion to face a well-thought out and easy to understand Republican alternative. Why is this? The Party obviously has some smart folks who have crafted ideas that could be cobbled together into a comprehensive plan that the Republicans could unite behind. The genius of the Contract with America in 1994 was that the American people could clearly see what the Republicans stood for and how that contrasted against the Clinton & Democrat policies that they were unhappy with at that time. Result? Republicans shock the world by taking over the House in that election year for the first time in decades. It also forced Clinton to move to the center and support policies that did some real good, specifically welfare reform and a balanced budget.
With that said, the Republicans do not need to roll out another “Contract with America”. They need to be more creative and contemporary than that (hello, PR firm?). How about coming up with a Roadmap for America’s Future?… What?… Someone already has done that?…Well look here, Representative Paul D. Ryan (R-WI) has already done it! Rep. Ryan has gone so far as to devise a plan that addresses not only the healthcare issue in this country but tackles Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and the tax code. In short, Rep. Ryan has taken on the single biggest elephant in the room – our country’s fiscal future. Ryan takes on the whole disease and not just the symptoms. President Obama gave a shout-out to Ryan at a recent gathering for coming up with his plan. Of course he doesn’t agree with it, but you wouldn’t expect him to. In fact, the next day, the Democrat leadership rolled out a series of attacks on Ryan and the Roadmap. The inherent risk of actually presenting a plan of your own is that the opposition gets to attack and smear it, but Paul Ryan should be admired for having the backbone to stick his neck and plan out there. Surely, his fellow Republicans would have his back anyway in that fight…hmmm, well not exactly. At last check, a total of six (6) co-sponsors were on the bill out of 178 Republicans in the House. Minority Leader John Boehner even thought it was important to stress that Ryan’s plan was not THE Republican plan. Wow, thanks for that, so could you show us the REAL Republican plan? No? Not one? How about you get on that then. I bet Ryan would even let you use his as a starting point if that wouldn’t be too much of a problem for you guys. Sigh…maybe they will roll out one at the Summit tomorrow (breath not held).
Read Paul D. Ryan’s A Roadmap for America’s Future and make your own conclusions. For my part, I will be visiting my Republican representative next week in Washington DC and asking him for his plan. Me thinks he don’t have one. If I find that to be the case, I shall find out his opinion of Mr. Ryan’s offering. Should be good times…
In the meantime Republican Party, how about hiring the ad agency that peppered us during the Super Bowl with the Bud Light commercials or the group that came up with the ad that had Betty White getting de-cleated in the pick-up football game. The American public could laugh and get educated at the same time!