Key Conservative Organisation Slams US Anti-Online Gaming Act
10 years ago
09 Feb
Just one week after a Congressional Act that aims to ban online poker in the USA was reintroduced, a key political group with links to the country’s opposition Republican Party has come out to stand against an online gaming ban.
The American Conservative Union, a lobby group that bills itself as the “oldest and largest grassroots conservative organization in the nation”, made the stance public in the aftermath of the reintroduction of the Restoration of America’s Wire Act.
Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz was the politician behind the Act’s reintroduction in Congress, which has the almost obsessive support and backing of the billionaire gaming tycoon and Republican supporter Sheldon Adelson.
The Executive Director of the American Conservative Union Dan Schneider described Mr Chaffetz as a “good conservative”. However, he also said the politician had missed the mark with the Act as he believed it went against a key conservative values of the small government.
“We are disappointed that on this issue [Mr Chaffetz] is taking the side of big government,” Mr Schneider said. He also took a swipe at Mr Adelson, a highly vocal and key proponent of a nationwide online gaming ban, in his criticism of the Restoration of America’s Wire Act.
Conservatives don’t have to agree on the value of gambling, but we should agree that it is unwise to use the brute force of the federal government to try to stop states from making their own decisions on this activity, especially if the reason for this action is to support gambling entrepreneurs in Las Vegas. Dan Schneider, conservative.org;The criticism of a Republican Senator, a key Republican Party donor and the Act itself is likely to fuel further debate and disunity within the conservative opposition with regards to the Act. Much of the country’s Christian lobby have voiced their support for the Act, as have some other Republican politicians.
However, other influential figures within the Republican Party have voiced their staunch opposition to the Act in the recent months. One of those was a former long-time Republican Party Congressman Ron Paul, who wrote an opinion piece in November that criticized the rationale for an online gaming ban.
Mr Paul’s piece prompted 11 conservative groups to write a letter to Republican politicians which urged them to vote against any such ban. Proponents of a ban, such as Mr Chaffetz and Mr Adelson, look like they will not back down from their efforts to ban online gaming in the US anytime soon.
Despite that, critiques from groups such as the American Conservative Union may help ensure that their efforts do not yield results that would see the closure of online poker markets in states like Nevada and New Jersey.
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