The House Financial Services Committee Debates Legalized Online Gambling

Barney Frank’s bill to legalize online gambling will be on the table today in the House Financial Services Committee.

GOP Congressman John Campbell supports the bill, with consumer protections, saying that, “when gambling on an outside site, how do you know they pay anybody any winnings?" Campbell supports allowing Americans to do what they want to do saying “...Americans clearly like to gamble. And they would like to do it on the Internet."

Even though it is illegal, many people gamble on offshore websites or find poker buddies to play in cyberspace.

Campbell, a vocal anti-tax man, does support imposing a tax on Internet gambling. He calls it "revenue that won’t be increasing taxes on anybody. If you don’t want to pay the tax, don’t gamble."

Democratic Congressman Joe Baca opposes the measure. He says there aren't enough protections to keep children and gambling addicts off the sites. Baca's district is home to Indian gaming casinos.

Campbell doesn't think online casinos pose a threat to traditional gambling sites. "There’s an experiential thing about going to Las Vegas or Atlantic City," he says. "There’s an experiential thing for a poker player to look somebody in the eye. So I don’t think this is going to put the brick and mortar gambling establishments out of business."

Full Article here:
http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/07/26/congress-considering-legalizing-online-gambling/