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The Obama Administration asked those with ideas to boost the US economy to take part in a petition drive. Any petition with 5000 signatures would automatically be reviewed by the White House for inclusion in an upcoming jobs bill.
Well, in under a week (3 days to be exact), those 5000 signatures were gathered.
Supporters of the online poker sector insists that the industry will generate countless numbers of jobs and millions of dollars in added revenue. Currently, Web poker businesses are not permitted to operate in the United States. Likewise, the US Government has failed to benefit from the multi-billion dollar international online poker industry.
"What we really want is to show the administration that a lot of people care about this liberty," said Rich Muny, PPA vice president of player relations, who mobilized PPA members to sign the petition. "We want it to always be in their heads that poker is in the top-tier of Americans' interests. To me, that is more important than what response we get from the administration."
Muny wants more people to sign the petition. By Wednesday night there were just short of 7000 signatures. It should be noted that the White House has already advised that the initial 5000 signature threshold may need to be revised, however, this particular petition ranked 21st out of 86 created thus far.
The petition can be found here
The objective:
“Appropriate regulation of online poker will put the U.S. in charge of safeguarding responsible adult players, prevent underage participation and protect those with excessive gaming habits. The current, unregulated U.S. marketplace does not guarantee a single consumer protection.
“U.S. regulation of this global industry will also mean the creation of American jobs and billions in new revenue without raising taxes. Licensed U.S.-based horse race wagering sites have proven that online betting sites can be successfully regulated. It is time to allow online poker the same opportunity.”
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
