Posted by TheEngineer on 03/02/10
Last updated 03/04/10

Following last year's success at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) returned this year.  Not wishing to be marginalized as a partisan issue, PPA has been actively reaching out to conservatives for support for our right to play, and cosponsorship of CPAC is part of this outreach effort.  As a nonpartisan group, it is important that we develop support on both sides of the aisle.  We were pleased with our reception at this year's conference.  I feel support for our position within the broader conservative movement will continue to increase as a result of these efforts.

Nonpartisanship is a central tenet of the PPA.  We poker players need conservative votes, liberal votes, and libertarian votes to win.  If poker gets branded a liberal/libertarian issue like marijuana reform has been, conservative lawmakers will oppose us because they think they are supposed to. Those who would otherwise support us would find themselves unable to, out of fear of being portrayed as moderates or RINOs (Republicans in Name Only).  We need to do all we can to make our case to conservatives to keep that from happening. Part of that is being at CPAC.

CPAC was held February 18-20, 2010 at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington D.C.  PPA Executive Director John Pappas, Grassroots Director Drew Lesofski and I were there for PPA.  We brought handouts on why principled conservatives ought to oppose those who would prohibit online poker, copies of pro-poker articles by George Will, Walter Williams, and Jacob Sullum, free t-shirts, and 2004 World Poker Champion and PPA Board Member Greg Raymer, who was on hand to sign autographs.

2004 World Poker Champion Greg Raymer
and me at CPAC

We also shared with the participants the alliances we have within the conservative movement, including groups like FreedomWorks and Americans for Tax Reform.  Attendees were very supportive of our position. Hundreds of attendees stopped by to offer their support -- only one person expressed opposition.....

See the full article at http://www.twoplustwo.com/...ers-CPAC.php.

Posted by TheEngineer on 01/22/10

 by Rich Muny

On the heels of the huge GOP victory in the Massachusetts Senate race, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) decided to stand up to the Obama administration with one of the strongest weapons at his disposal - he halted Senate votes on Treasury Department nominees.

As there are a number of areas where the conservative movement takes issues with administration objectives, this is a target-rich environment.  A strong stand here could show America what the Republican Party stands for and what the party will fight for.  So, is Kyl standing up for improvements in the health care bill, reduced federal spending, or limits on federal power?  No, he is not.  Sadly, Sen. Kyl is wasting this powerful, one-shot weapon to register his dissatisfaction with the administration's granting of a delay in implementing Internet poker and gaming-related financial regulations - a delay that was requested by his fellow Republicans.

The law for which Kyl pushed with so much vigor for so many years is fatally flawed.  Despite a decade of trying, beginning with his attempt to add a national online poker and gaming prohibition to the Crime Prevention Act of 1995, Kyl found himself unable to pass an online gaming prohibition through Congress.  In 2006, he settled for a law prohibiting money from going from U.S. financial transactions to sites offering "unlawful Internet gambling." To move this through the Senate, Kyl had this bill tacked on to the must-pass SAFE Port Act in the middle of the night just as the 2006 Congressional term was coming to a close.  Thus, the Senate never even voted on this as a free-standing bill.

(more...)

Posted by TheEngineer on 11/10/09
Last updated 11/10/09

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Raising on Aces and Eights: The GOP's Bad Bet Against Online Poker

by Rich Muny

The GOP has historically been the party of limited government and personal responsibility.  President Ronald Reagan said it best in his frequent citations of Thomas Paine's famous axiom - "the government governs best that governs least." Unfortunately, the party moved away from the limited government conservatism of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan during the George W.  Bush Administration.  In fact, the 2008 Republican Party Platform regrettably went so far as to advocate a federal prohibition of online poker.

Poker is not a crime, nor should it be.  Millions of Americans - including the president and many in Congress - play the game at their kitchen tables, on the Internet, and at their local card rooms.  It is a great American pastime.  During that failed era of big government "conservatism", however, some big government social conservative groups like Focus on the Family wished to use the power of the federal government to stop Americans from playing online poker in their own homes.......

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Posted by TheEngineer on 10/29/09

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Gambling Away the Republican Future?

by RICH MUNY

There have recently been positive developments in the Republican Party's fortunes.  Polls show increased support for conservatism and the GOP, conservatives are actively protesting for their beliefs, and Congress is starting to take note.  Republicans have a real chance in 2010 - if they can form a cohesive conservative coalition.

The Republican Party was once the party of limited government and personal responsibility. Unfortunately, the GOP has been pushing libertarian-minded conservatives from the party for some time.  2008 was the worst year ever for the traditional GOP coalition.  The party establishment was openly hostile to Rep. Ron Paul's (R-TX) presidential run and the big government social conservative wing of the party even called for a plank in the party platform advocating federal internet censorship to stop adults from playing online poker.  In essence, the party told poker players, internet freedom supporters, and limited government conservatives that they are no longer welcome in the GOP......

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Posted by TheEngineer on 09/21/09
Last updated 09/21/09

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I wrote an article on the situation in Kentucky for NewMajority.com. It will be the featured article for the day, so I hope you all like it:

Gambling with Free Speech on the Net

http://www.newmajority.com/gambling-...ech-on-the-net

Upset at what he saw as competition to the state lottery and to state-taxed parimutuel betting, last year Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear (D) initiated efforts to seize the internet domain names of 141 offshore online poker, sports betting, and casino gaming sites. This action was undertaken despite the fact that these sites are operating legally in their home nations and have no physical presence in Kentucky.

With his plan in place, Beshear hired an out-of-state contingency-fee only law firm to assist him with his scheme. The governor and his team of hired guns went to a state circuit court to initiate the seizure and forfeiture of the domain names in question. His stated intention was to release the domain names to their rightful owners only after they paid a large cash settlement and agreed to use blocking technology to prohibit Kentucky residents from viewing content the governor found objectionable. In other words, Beshear sought to assess a non-existent tax on foreign companies and unilaterally establish trade policies while censoring the world's Internet sites to control content accessible to Kentuckians.

Beshear moved his case through the state circuit court, but lost 2-1 on appeal. The Kentucky Supreme Court will hear Beshear's appeal of that loss next month, and supporters of internet freedom are lining up to tell the court where they stand. eBay, Network Solutions, the Poker Players Alliance, the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, the Bluegrass Institute, the Center for Democracy and Technology, and many others are demanding that the Kentucky Supreme Court uphold the appeals court ruling.

Beshear's contention that any court in the world should be permitted to seize domain names of internet sites operating legally in their home jurisdictions is deeply disturbing to those who value internet freedom and U.S. sovereignty, and with good reason. For example, under this scheme CNN's internet domain name could be at risk if they were to run an article critical of Cuba or China. Similarly, the Family Research Council's domain name could be seized by a court in a small town in Syria if FRC were to run an article critical of Islam........