Al D'Amato: Online Freedom Fighter

netbuzz writes "Former New York Sen. Al D'Amato is giving lobbying a good name by providing an insider's political savvy to a fledgling group called the Poker Players Alliance, which is attempting to overturn the federal prohibition against online poker. The New York Times has the details, including an enlightening look at D'Amato's passion for the game. As with all forms of gambling, online poker should be legal, regulated and taxed. Go, Al. "

Comments

Freedom Fighter?

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought we had all agreed to call them the Terrorists?

Where we often part ways

[MikeRT]

Taxing vice is bad policy for a few reasons:

1) It gives the government financial incentive to keep vice going, rather than let private citizens be the sole determining factor in what happens to it.

2) It often gets carried away, recreating the black market. Cigarette smuggling between states is a good example of this. If every state imposed a modest tax, it'd be non-issue but many jurisdictions can't help themselves.

3) It has no demonstrated tendency to reduce the consumption of or participation in a vice.

The best way to go is to hit vice with existing taxes, such as sales tax for drugs, liquor and sexual services and the income tax for gambling. That way you still get the revenue without getting much bureaucracy involved or encouraging the vice.

Re:Where we often part ways

[sholden]

1. Is surely a desirable thing coming from poker player?

2. Is what we have now - players transferring money via less straight forward mechanisms to poker sites. Taxing is less likely to make a black market than outlawing.

3. Is not the goal - the gamblers are the ones who want this...

Existing taxes is what is being asked for... Let online gambling be run in the US just like casino's are allowed to operate - subject to all the exiting taxes/regulations/etc that those casino's are. Income tax on player's for example - with actual documents rather than just hoping a US player will tell the IRS they won $20,000 on a server in another country operated by a company whose directors will be arrested if they accidentally step on US soil and hence aren't likely to be filing forms with the IRS for fun.

Re:Where we often part ways

[speardane]

and banning vice works?

Alcohol = prohibition & Mafia

Drugs = DEA & trafficking

put it in clear view, like Amsterdam and cannabis, most people will get bored and ignore it

Re:Where we often part ways

[superwiz]

Gambling is a zero sum game. Why should IRS get any part of the pot in the first place? When taxing economic activity (production and ownership of property) the theory goes that the government protects it and facilitates it so it has the right to collect fees on it. But why should the government get any part of transfer of money based on chance? Nothing is put into the economy through this activity, so no government assistance is required to maintain it. I say, it's actually better to have them offshore and hiding... this puts back a certain level of fairness into the taxation system.

Special Interests

[RedHat Rocky]

Wow, torn I am. As a poker player who no longer plays due to the legal situation, how do I feel about a lobbyist?

The same why I feel about the rest of them: Bad.

As much as I would like to restart playing online legally (yeah, I know I could do the offshore bank thing but not on my bankroll), a lobbyist is not the way I'd like to get it back.

Special interests are what got our government where it is today; unfortunately, I don't see a way out. Does anyone else? Argue with me, I need some hope! :)

D'Amato's a Cheater

[Doc Ruby]

Al D'Amato was a crooked senator from NY. Not only did he help his brother scam military contracts using his Senate office, but he ran the Housing and Urban Development agency as his family's interest-free mortgage office, while cutting housing for the poor. Among other swinish career moves.

I'm not surprised he's hooked up with the poker players: no strangers to compromise and bedfellows to win the pot. I hope they can use him to free Internet gambling from the hypocrisy of D'Amato's Republican heirs, who ban it as competition for their more traditional casino mob (and their "Indian" fronts). But don't deify D'Amato: he's a cheater. Count your money before leaving the table.

The US doesn't own the Internet

[PrescriptionWarning]

and that is precisely what they get in to their heads... its one thing to help prevent murders, and other such nastiness by using the internet, its quite another to attempt to block something which is legal in certain areas of the US! Hypocrisy, it seems, is becoming the norm.

Re:It's a BLUFF?

[tansey]

Aside: the Poker Players Alliance actually solicits donations to support its cause. Wow. Give them money so they can fight for your right to lose money.

Exactly. They are a realistic lobbying organization that understands you need muscle in Washington if you want your voice to be heard. Also, the donations they solicited from people was normally done in conjunction with poker sites. The poker sites would request you sign up and pay a $20 membership fee in exchange for a $25 deposit bonus. That sounds like a win-win to me.

Poker is a form of entertainment like any other. You should have the right to waste your time and money on it just like strip clubs, pornography, or slashdot. (No matter how sleazy and disgusting slashdot may be.)