October 7, 2011
Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), a longtime opponent of all gaming,
attacked online poker in a
House speech yesterday. While he did it in the context of attacking poker supporter Grover Norquist, today's poker rights action is not a "defend Grover Norquist" action. Rather, it's a "defend poker" action.
Some here will post in support of Norquist and poker, while others will be critical toward Norquist but supportive of poker. Many of us won't mention any of the broader subject matter at all, instead focusing solely on poker. All of these approaches are fine, of course...we simply need to tell Rep. Wolf our opinion of his attacks on our game.
- Post and like pro-poker comments on Rep. Wolf's Facebook wall post on his statement HERE.
- Please do not accidentally like the main anti-poker post.
- As a time-saving measure, try using CTRL-F to search for terms like "poker" and "2366", using "highlight all."
- Let's continue to post and like pro-poker comments on Rep. Mary Bono Mack's (R-CA) Facebook wall HERE and on both of of Rep. Upton's Facebook walls HERE and HERE. There are new comments posted since yesterday, so let's support them!
- Send a prefilled tweet promoting today's action plan HERE.
Please reply in this thread with "posted", "done", "sent" etc. to encourage others to participate. The past
40 actions have generated triple-digit participation, so let's keep it growing. Thanks!
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Here's the statement:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA)
INTERNET GAMBLING AND CASINOS
Mr. Norquist also has a long history of lobbying to spread Internet gambling. According to public lobbying disclosure reports, Norquist’s clients at Janus-Meritt included a variety of gambling organizations, including the Interactive Gaming Council, organized to oppose the Republican-led effort to pass the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act. It is also worth noting that the Interactive Gaming Council was made up of online poker companies, including Full Tilt Poker, which was shut down by the FBI in April and is described by the Justice Department as a “massive Ponzi scheme.”
As recently as January 2011, Senate lobby disclosure forms show that Mr. Norquist continues to lobby on expanding Internet poker issues in his capacity as president of Americans for Tax Reform. Why would Mr. Norquist and ATR have an interest in lobbying to overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act?
The Washington Times reported on September 21, 2011, that “critics of expanded gambling worry that legalizing online poker will increase gambling addiction and its fallout, such as divorces, bankruptcies and suicides. ‘People may not understand how highly addictive it is, when you’re alone in your home,’ said Jerry Prosapio, co-founder of Gambling Exposed and a self-confessed gambling addict who quit 28 years ago. ‘Online gambling is just another way you’re going to create more addiction and then you’re going to see more crime. It’s just no good for America.’”
Mr. Norquist also took money from other gambling interests, like the Venetian Casino Resort, according to a March 31, 2006, article by Michael Kranish in the Boston Globe.
I think it is fair to ask: whose bidding is Grover Norquist doing? Why would Americans for Tax Reform take such a longstanding interest in proliferating gambling in the United States?
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