New House Bill to Stop UIGEA
On Thursday, we read that one of our favorite poker podcasts, Beyond the Table, was “out with a fizzle.†And apparently that’s fo’ shizzle. The skies suddenly had grown ominously dark. Would we ever smile again . . . ?
Well, here’s what looks to be a ray of hope. (At least for those of us who like to play online poker.)
Late this week, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) proposed a new House bill, H.R. 5767, the sole purpose of which is to stop the feds from finalizing regulations for the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006. The bill comes on the heels of last week’s Congressional hearing at which multiple witnesses — including several representatives of U.S. payment systems and a couple of those involved with authoring the regs — communicated pretty loudly the unfeasibility of the UIGEA in its current state.
In fewer words than this post contains, H.R. 5767 pithily prohibits “the Secretary of the Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from proposing, prescribing, or implementing any regulation†the feds come up with regarding the UIGEA. As yesterday’s press release from the House Financial Services Committee states, “it was clear at the [April 2] hearing that the regulations are unworkable for the financial services industry, and this bill would, therefore prohibit their implementation.“
No word as yet on how fast this sucker may climb its way up the Congressional ladder, but given the overwhelming response against the UIGEA following last week’s hearing, it seems H.R. 5767 may have a lot more initial backers than those other anti-UIGEA bills (like Frank’s Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act).
We’re happy, right? Okay, so we’re not laughing ’til we wet ourselves. But we are smiling again. I guess there’s life beyond Beyond the Table . . . .
DG says:
April 13th, 2008 at 6:49pm
This is why I’m voting for Ron Paul for President, even if I have to write him in. He’s like the only guy in Washington advocating freedom for adults to be adults, and in charge of their own lives (including gambling choices)
DanM says:
April 13th, 2008 at 8:41pm
Love Ron Paul. He’s on the top row of my MySpace top friends.
California Jen says:
April 13th, 2008 at 9:15pm
Shamus, I just realized exactly how much my post overlapped yours. Can I play it off as news worth repeating? 😉