RAWA Hearing: Ignorant Leading the Blind, Ban Fantasy Sports, PPA Funded by Terrorists
A House Judiciary Committee hearing on pending legislation – the Restore Americas Wire Act – has gone according to plan based on the witness list consisting almost entirely of anti-online gambling zealots.
No need for a transcript. The only thing one needs to know is that online gambling is very, very bad. It’s also the crack cocaine of gambling.
Reactions to Wednesday’s hearing were swift within the Web poker and gambling community in general.
Joe Brennan, Jr., a long time proponent for online gambling, tweeted:
Sounds like the hearing on #RAWA is going as expected: the ignorant are leading the blind.
Chris Grove of the Online Poker Report tweeted:
Why are we having a hearing about regulated online gambling that has not one regulator giving testimony? #RAWA
Noted industry attorney Jeff Ifrah tweeted:
2d Witness: iGam'g contributes to inequality in America, States are cheaters & fraudsters, States force gaming on voters
For those in the fantasy sports sector who thought they may have somehow been immune to the Sheldon Adelson-backed legislation, think again.
John Warren Kindt, gambling critic and a Professor of Business and Legal Policy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, suggested that the fantasy sports loophole in previously passed legislation be closed. The legislation in question is the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which expressly excludes fantasy sports.
Somewhere, somehow, it was also suggested during the day’s hearing that the Poker Players Alliance is funded by terrorists, a claim that wasn't supported by any type of evidence. But why let a little thing like proof get in the way of this trainwreck?
In a nutshell, the hearing on RAWA was all that we expected and more.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
