Failed Republican presidential candidate, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, is best known to poker fans as Sheldon Adelson’s jock-carrier and the Senator who introduced Adelson’s Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA) last year. RAWA, if it even became law, would place a ban on online gambling in the United States, wiping out the current legal, regulated internet gaming industries in Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware. So far, RAWA and its champions have failed miserably, but Graham is still at it, this time inserting some RAWA-like language into the Senate Appropriations Bill.
The gigantic 100-plus page bill, officially titled, “Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, And Related Agencies Appropriations Bill,” authorizes billions of dollars in government spending. It is something that almost nobody that wants to remain sane would ever read in its entirety, which is what makes it so potentially useful for Graham.
There is one small paragraph in the bill which, according to Gambling Compliance, was added “at the request of Senator Graham.” It reads:
Internet Gambling- Since 1961, the Wire Act has prohibited nearly all forms of gambling over interstate wires, including the Internet. However, beginning in 2011, certain States began to permit Internet gambling. The Committee notes that the Wire Act did not change in 2011. The Committee also notes that the Supreme Court of the United States has stated that `criminal laws are for courts, not for the Government, to construe.’ Abramski v. U.S., 134 S.Ct. 2259, 2274 (2014) (internal citation omitted).
As you can see, it is really just a statement of incorrect opinion. It does nothing to change the law. But there was a reason Graham had that added. Essentially, it would lay the groundwork for a future online gambling ban.
The way it would work, according to dailysurge.com* is that the language would also get inserted into House’s version of the Appropriations Bill. The site continues:
What they plan to do is to get these two bills passed with an accompanying report calling for the law to be changed to ban all gaming and gambling. Then they will add the language into a conference report after the bills pass the House and the Senate. This is called an “air drop,” because the House and Senate will never get to vote on this provision as an amendment.
The legislative language will be buried in a giant conference report that will be presented to the House and Senate as a take-it-or-leave it proposition. Insiders use this trick when they want to get something passed that does not have majority support. They attach an unpopular special interest earmark to an appropriations bill in a way that makes it impossible for opponents to strip it out.
Now that many sites are reporting on this, the hope is that Graham’s addition is no longer invisible. It is entirely possible that Rep. John Culberson, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, will remove it and we can all go on laughing at Graham and Adelson. But while we have seen both parties soundly reject RAWA and the crony capitalism it represents, this continued shady politics (which is all too common) should still make people at least a little nervous.
*While it sounds like the dailysurge knows what it is talking about, always take information from an extreme-right wing site (or extreme left) like that with a grain of salt. Put it this way: articles on that site right now include “BRAVE BEAUTY: First Muslim Miss USA Converts To Christianity,” “Mizzou Pays The Price For Supporting #BlackLivesMatter,” and, coincidentally, “Lindsey Graham is Now a Global Warming Alarmist.”
Cover photo: “Lindsey Graham practicing his card counting skills for the Underdog Debate” by DonkeyHotey is licensed under CC BY 4.0