What was expected to be a scintillating debate between the two men at the helms of both sides of the ongoing debate over regulation of the online gaming and poker industry instead turned out to be a bit of a disappointment.
Currently in Washington, D. C., the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) opened up its four day meeting Thursday morning. One of the biggest gatherings of conservatives in the United States, the conference does run towards a particular vein of conservatism that promotes individual liberties and limited government. With this in mind, the CPAC organizers arranged for a forum discussion on Thursday afternoon that, had it gone the way it was supposed to, would have brought together the two sides that are battling over online gaming regulation.
The forum, called “A Debate on Internet Freedom and the 10th Amendment: Should Congress Shut Down State-Authorized Gambling Websites,” invited the Executive Director of the Poker Players’ Alliance, John Pappas, to participate on the panel. CPAC organizers invited the Vice President of Government Relations & Community Development for the Las Vegas Sands Corporation (LVSC) Andy Abboud, who has been the mouthpiece of anti-online gaming crusader Sheldon Adelson, to speak for the anti-online gaming faction. While Pappas was front and center when the forum was ready to begin, Abboud – nor any other members of the Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling (CSIG), Adelson’s anti-online gaming organization – wasn’t in attendance to debate the issue.
“I guess when the rubber meets the road, prohibition supporters realize they can’t back up their fear mongering public relations campaign with actual facts,” Pappas said in a statement released by the PPA. “I was looking forward to an open and fair debate on the future of online gaming and not just because the facts are on our side.”
Pappas went on to further state that this was an attempt by the anti-online gaming coalition to bypass any factual debate on the matter and simply try to push through a piece of legislation. “Before Congress votes on any legislation that would impose a broad prohibition, like the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA), I think American voters deserve to hear both sides clearly articulate how such a ban impacts consumers, states and the economy,” Pappas declared. “The fact that the primary RAWA supporters refused to join this debate, after significant effort by the organizers, tells me that they want their bill rubber-stamped instead of openly debated on the merits – a basic tenet of democracy.”
Rather than attend the largest meeting of conservatives in the U. S., CSIG has continued to produce slick videos that are replete with fear-mongering messages. The organization’s Facebook page often cites that “children may switch from free mobile gaming apps to real gambling opportunities” and that “people in the criminal world and terrorist world could get a benefit from” online gaming. They have also sent out several representatives to conservative-leaning media outlets; these media outlets have been pushing the CSIG message for the most part rather than questioning its motives and who in particular is driving the effort.
RAWA is an example of those motives. Essentially written by Adelson’s forces within the LVSC, the bill is an attempt to “reauthorize” the Wire Act of 1961 to cover online gaming when, in fact, the Wire Act only outlawed sports betting over telephone and telegraph lines and the internet wasn’t around that year. In effect, RAWA is an attempt by Adelson’s coalition to rewrite the law to ban online gaming and poker nationwide, even though gambling is one of the activities that has been left to the states to regulate.
RAWA is set to come to a House subcommittee hearing on March 5. Called to the fore by its sponsor, Utah Representative Jason Chaffetz, it is possible that the hearing will be one-sided, with pro-gaming forces left on the outside looking in as Abboud has his way with the subcommittee. As such, it would have been important for an open debate on the subject in an arena that has no biases.
Unfortunately, that has not occurred. As of late Thursday, no reason has been given by Abboud, the LVSC, the CSIG or any other organization as to why they did not appear for a free debate over the issue. It seems when they aren’t in control of the outlet, Adelson’s forces aren’t interested in an exposing of facts regarding online gaming and poker.
