USA, UIGEA, Congress

An uplifting read for America’s long-suffering online gamblers has been penned by Democratic Rep. Jared Polis. In a strongly-worded article for Roll Call News, the congressman fights for the proposed “Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act.” This recently introduced bill would permit and regulate online gambling in the US.

Addressing Conservative Fears
Polis seizes the opportunity to quash one of the – by now familiar – main arguments of those who oppose the liberalization of internet gambling in the US. He rejects the widely-touted idea that legalization will trigger a pandemic of compulsive gambling and loose morals among North American youth. Republican Rep. Spencer Bachus is just one conservative proponent of the 2006 UIGEA (the online gambling ban), who has – loudly – voiced such concerns.

Polis argues that in countries permitting online gambling, widespread gambling obsession and depravity are not the norm. On the contrary, regulatory systems force online casinos to actively prevent underage playing, addiction, money-laundering and cheating. Polis says that these regulations protect consumers more effectively than the UIGEA protects Americans, who are left vulnerable to potentially unscrupulous, off-shore internet casinos.

Financial Benefits
The nail in the UIGEA coffin, Polis argues, is the fact that the law doesn’t prevent Americans spending over $100 billion every year on foreign gambling sites. Furthermore, Polis suggests that the estimated $42 billion per decade in tax revenue to be generated from online gambling should be pumped into programs benefiting American society.

The question remains: will the majority of Polis’s colleagues agree with him?

EmailSavePrint this pageFeedback