August 12th, 2011
By Poker Players Alliance
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Debt Committee and Internet Poker
As you may know, U.S. House and Senate leaders have appointed 12 members of Congress to serve on the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction.
This “super” committee is charged with developing policies to reduce the U.S. deficit and then make specific recommendations to Congress which will be voted on. This is a perfect opportunity for supporters of regulated Internet poker to make their voices heard.
Details and structure of this new committee are still not finalized; however the PPA is already positioning itself to educate the committee members about how regulated Internet poker could mean billions in new revenue, WITHOUT raising taxes. Very soon you will hear from us about ways you, as an American and poker player, can help influence this Committee to consider poker as one of its policy solutions to our nation’s debt crisis.
Note: If you wish to get a head start on this, today’s Fight for Poker Rights action plan is to ask this committee to include online poker legislation in their plan to address to debt.
Weekly Update from Rich Muny, VP of Player Relations
In an environment where our national debt is embroiling Capitol Hill and unnerving Wall Street, should our government continue to refuse the tax revenues that licensed online poker would generate? Should our government instead waste our tax dollars – money we cannot spare right now – on efforts to stop adults from playing poker in our own homes on our own computers? If you want Congress to stop wasting our time and our tax dollars on efforts to prohibit online poker, please tell them! They are our elected representatives, after all. Congress’ August recess has started and your elected representatives are back home for the month. While they are home, let’s all call their district offices ( click here for phone numbers) and urge them to support HR 2366, the Online Poker Act of 2011. Here are some tips on what to say to the staffer who answers the phone:
- I am a constituent, a voter, and a poker enthusiast.
- (For Representatives) Please support H.R. 2366, a bipartisan bill to license and regulate Internet poker.
- (For Senators) H.R. 2366 has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. I would like the Senator to support Senate legislation to license and regulate Internet poker.
- Licensing will provide strong consumer protections and age verification as well as billions of dollars in federal and state revenue.
- Addiction is a real issue for a very small percentage of people in many areas — food, shopping, gaming etc. — that can be addressed without infringing on the rights of those who responsibly enjoy these activities. Online poker can easily include self-banning and deposit limit provisions. Sites can also utilize software tools to identify patterns that indicate compulsive behaviors. In fact, a groundbreaking Harvard study shows licensing and regulating of online poker to be better at addressing problem gaming than prohibition.
- Every federal dollar wasted on efforts to stop me from playing online poker is another dollar added to the federal deficit.
- Please support my freedoms by supporting this bill.
- Thank you.
- I would like a response from the Representative/Senator.
You can also urge Members of Congress to support the bill by clicking here to see if your elected representatives have Facebook pages. If they do, please take a moment to sign into your Facebook account, click the “Like” button on the page and then post your message asking them to protect your right to play online poker by supporting HR 2366! You can also check to see if your elected representatives have Twitter accounts by clicking here. If they do, please use the hashtag #poker when sending your tweet. Additionally, I participated in an in-depth interview on the Short Stacked Radio Show on Monday, where I discussed advocacy efforts for online poker. As I mentioned last week, PPA comes before poker media to take on the tough questions as often as possible, as the questions we receive at these interviews are representative of the issues in which the poker community is most interested. I hope you will find it interesting and informative. Short Stacked Radio Show Interview: Rich Muny Thanks for your support! Proud to play, Rich Muny [email protected] www.facebook.com/rich.muny
The PPA wishes to keep active members like yourself updated on the latest poker advocacy news by periodically sending out select events and headlines. We hope you find it informative and thank you for your continuing support.
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