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At a time when most economic news is bleak, maybe we can take a tip from England, and the British Open bets that will be placed this week with that nation’s legal bookmakers. There, winnings are easily taxed.

Here? More and more sports wagering is conducted online, through offshore websites.

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Poker Players Alliance Executive Director John Pappas talks about the organization’s stance on the new legislation, which is now in its nascent state: “McDermott is on the tax writing committee in the U.S. House of Representatives and he’s been an advocate for extracting revenue from internet gambling.

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WASHINGTON, July 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) introduced legislation yesterday that directs a potential $40 billion over the next 10 years to be spent on job training for those in the declining sectors of the economy and educational assistance for foster care youth. The legislation, Investing in our Human Resources Act of 2008 (H.R. 6501), would be funded through new revenue generated by regulated Internet gambling activities.

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The bill by California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) which would lead to the legalization of intrastate online poker in California has cleared a significant legislative hurdle and is on its way to the Senate Appropriations Committee in August, its final stop before coming before the full State Senate for a vote. If the bill is passed, and signed by the governor, California would become the first state to legalize intrastate online poker for its residents.

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When trade emissaries from the European Union arrive in Washington later this month to talk to officials in Congress, the Justice Department, and other executive branch agencies, they’ll have some difficult questions to ask. In particular, they’ll ask about some gambling laws that rank among some the worst written sections of the United States Code. If things go poorly a trade conflict with vast implications for the United States banking sector could ensue.

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The proposed California law that would be the first step toward allowing online poker rooms in California made it through its first committee, and its sponsor, Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, hopes to see it lead to a law that would give the residents of his state a place to play online poker regulated by a governmental party in the United States.

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WASHINGTON — Despite a stunning setback in his effort to roll back a ban on Internet gambling, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., says the issue is not going away.

“At this point, Im waiting to see what the Republicans, who voted against this, plan to do after getting the heat for killing it,” Frank said this week.

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H.R. 5767 Dies in Committee

A bill that would have forced Federal officials to decide if online poker should be considered gambling failed to make it past the House Financial Services Committee in June. Instead, Barney Frank and Ron Paul’s H.R. 5767 “Payment Systems Protection Act,” which would have stopped the implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) until the federal government defined exactly what constitutes online gambling, was met with a 32-32 vote that broke along party lines, with a few notable exceptions.

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The House tonight approved legislation that would increase the size of some charitable and non-profit group bingo prizes and overhaul rules for Texas Hold’em Poker.

Both games are important sources of funding for non-profit groups.

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