Is there any chance Reid/Kyl gets attached to the fiscal cliff bill that's headed to the president's desk?

No. Attachment can only take place before the final floor votes in the House and Senate.

Indeed. The lame duck sweat is officially over.

The attachment sweat, however, is not entirely over. Although not probable, I do take Reid at his word when he said he had not given up and that there "may be opportunities" in the early part of the new Congressional session.

These "opportunities" are essentially now limited, however, to bills designed to avert the next fiscal scare, the debt limit. Congress will once again have to act on something or the US will not be able to borrow funds to meet all its financial obligations. This is expected to come to be sometime in February.

That round of bargaining may produce another "must-pass" bill and MAYBE Reid can get his poker/UIGEA2 legislation attached. It is clearly going to be a much harder task without Kyl to help, but it is not impossible.

If we get past that without a Reid bill, the hope of Federal Internet poker legislation will not be gone, but there will certainly be nothing to sweat. I expect to see legislation introduced, at least another House bill, but I also expect such legislation to be approached in the same procedural manner as before: no hurry, lots of committee hearings, maybe a floor vote before 2015.

SO .... start following (and hopefully soon sweating) your state legislatures instead. At this point Christie and NJ may mean more for the future of online poker than anything Federal.

Skallagrim

he's dead, Jim.

So Skallagrim... we basically ****ed amiright?

Bones, you're a Doctor, there must be something you can do!

Well, as I jokingly hinted in response to ScreaminAsian, miracles can happen.

But for anything to happen soon will take a miracle. It is possible Reid could get his bill put into something that gets "must pass" status during the next crisis. And there will be a crisis of some sorts when Congress has to once again deal with the debt ceiling. That is expected around February of this year.

But since Reid couldn't pull off his maneuver in the lame duck session, and since he wont have Kyl to support him in February - I'd put the chances there at the level of requiring a miracle.

Otherwise, as far as Congress goes, it is back to the long slog through the trenches that is law-making these days. I firmly believe we will see favorable online poker legislation introduced, but there will be no fast track. Just months, perhaps years, of multiple committee hearings and committee votes and then maybe a floor vote.

Yeah, Federally all seems ****ed right now.

But that does not mean it is time to give up entirely on a Federal bill, just that the Feds are not going to ride to our rescue anytime soon and we need to adjust our efforts accordingly.

Nor does it mean that we are ****ed in every state. Hopefully we can make something happen in at least a few states besides NV and DE before 2013 is over.

Skallagrim

damnit Jim I'm a doctor, not a political tactician!

last

Yea I'm gonna say that the federal effort is dead in the water for at least a few years. We need Congress to change drastically in 2014 but it's going to be hard to get that House in order.

Time for the slow slog of state-by-state. The key word is indefinite. I might be playing online poker in my state in 2 years or 10 years. Let's just say I won't be checking into these forums as frequently anymore. As a poker player it's a frustrating time.

The more states that regulate on their own, the less likely a federal bill will pass imo. And it appears that a few states, at least, will regulate in the next two years, so I'm not optimistic about 2014.

If I had to stir up optimism for this Congress, I would look to two things. One, Obama said any future spending cuts will be paired with revenue increases, and since rates are now off the table, that just leaves things like our thing. Two, if PASPA bites the dust, there may be a fear that it will be available online intrastate, and that may lead to strengthening the UIGEA with UIGEA II.

Fist full of straws, I know

Man nice they were able to attach almost 100 million for Nascar to the fiscal cliff bill among other stupid **** but no poker bill = (.

******s