U.S. Casino Operators Putting Pressure on U.S. Congress
May 22 2006, 02:49 PM
MGM Mirage, Harrah's Entertainment and other U.S. casino operators are putting pressure on Congress to consider legalizing online gambling. This is happening during a time when lawmakers are trying to make it illegal.
The companies are using the Jack Abramoff scandal, involving his lobbying on behalf of Indian casinos, as leverage towards proving that regulation is necessary, but not making online poker and other forms of onlne gambling illegal . The casinos say the best way to control the $12 billion Internet betting business is to legalize, regulate and tax it. Lawmakers have become wary of gambling issues since an investigation of Abramoff uncovered a web of coThe gambling associations project that the global online betting business will double to about $24 billion a year in revenue by 2010. Millions of U.S. citizens logged on to online poker rooms last year. It has been pointed out that over 80% of them were not aware of the 1961 Gambling Wire Act which, according to some lawmakers, makes offshore wagers illegal.
The U.S. Justice Department continues to investigate and prosecute online casinos that accept funds from U.S. customers. On May 17, prosecutors in Washington announced money-laundering charges against two people, including an American, who operated an Internet betting parlor in Antigua that received $250 million in bets on professional football, baseball, hockey and college basketball from U.S. gamblers. Antigua has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization against the U.S. ban on online gambling. In addition to making campaign contributions, the U.S. casino operators have retained some of Washington's top lobbying firms to promote their issues. Gambling has long been a politically sensitive issue, and online betting draws opposition from evangelical Christians, an important Republican constituency. Focus on the Family and the Traditional Values Coalition, two religious-advocacy groups, have come out in favor of the House legislation stiffening penalties.
