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

Click here to Digg

Click here to Twitter

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.......

Click here for the full story.

Posted by TheEngineer on 10/29/09

  Click here to Digg

Click here to Twitter  

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......

Click here for the full story.

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

Click here to Digg

Click here to Twitter

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........

Posted by TheEngineer on 09/14/09

   Digg This Alert 

Click here to Twitter

by RICH MUNY

Continuing financial problems at Focus on the Family have resulted in more job cutbacks within the social conservative organization. The group recently announced a new round of layoffs, this latest one affecting 75 employees. This is expected to bring the number of employees down to 860 employees, from a high of about 1400 in 2002. However, the organization apparently still has plenty of cash to fund an expensive Washington lobbying effort, including a major Focus initiative to try to stop adults from playing online poker in their own homes with their own money.

Focus on the Family typically utilizes a two-pronged approach to achieving its goals. The first prong is the group's ministry.  The ministry assists people in choosing of their own free will the path Focus recommends.  The second prong is Focus' Congressional and state lobbying, where Focus seeks laws restricting behaviors the group deems immoral, thus using the power of the state to achieve its ends. Sadly, the fact that Focus is laying employees off while doubling-down on lobbying shows a disturbing shift in the direction of the organization.  It seems the group now prefers forcing the changes they seek through the power of the federal government over encouraging people to choose the appropriate path.

Regarding the latest round of layoffs, Focus on the Family spokesman Gary Schneeberger said, "Managers are meeting with their employees, praying with employees. We want to make sure that even after this process, they have a transition package and that's not just about money, but helping them find a new job." This is somewhat kind of Focus, perhaps, but I imagine it's cold comfort to the families of the laid-off employees who know those salaries are now going to Washington lobbying. One wonders how many would have voluntarily given up their jobs to ensure that Focus had sufficient funding to continue their all-encompassing fight against poker players.  As poker players are showing no signs of giving up, one wonders how many years and how much donated money Focus is planning to put into this fight.

Anyone who believes Focus on the Family should focus on ministering to those in need while keeping the lobbying -- especially on issues like online poker -- on the back burner during lean times like these ought to write to Focus now. Let them know that you want your money to go to ministering and that you will not donate if they plan to use the bulk of your money on Capitol Hill lobbying. You can contact them at
http://family.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/family.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=14
190.

© Rich Muny
Rich Muny's commentaries are copyrighted and may be republished, reposted, or emailed providing that the column is copied intact and that full credit is given to the author.