I met with Congressman Bob Goodlatte - Va. 6 - on July 14. I went into the meeting with no expectation that I was going to change his fundamental moral position in opposition to all forms of gambling. I was hoping that perhaps he had seen the continued growth and popularity of poker and begin to think that since there is no practical way to stop people from playing online it might be time to consider some form of regulation and taxation. I was wrong.
I could fill this page with all the misinformation he put forth but that would be to depressing. He didn't care about the approximately 1100 PPA members in his district; he didn't care about the exemption for horse racing (he has encouraged the Justice Dept. to challenge that law in the courts); he cited the now debunked Annanberg study that says internet gambling has been reduced 75% since the UIGEA was enacted; he brought up the Dickinson College student and a constituent of his who committed suicide over gambling debts.
As I said, it was depressing but not totally unexpected. The real bottom line is that Bob Goodlatte and another Virginia congressman Frank Wolf want to continue to be America's nanny and dictate to people what they can and can't do in the personal lives.
He said in his opinion there would not be any further action on the issue this year but wouldn't speculate what the new Congress and a new president would do.