Reposted from the "General" page:
American GCers: We discussed a bit on the Internet board how to fight the UIGEA this week. We didn't get a lot of comments, but let's give it a shot this week and see how much interest there is in fighting back.
Let's target Nevada's senators (and NV's three representatives secondarily). Sen. Harry Reid is a logical target. He has made anti-Internet gaming statements but is pro-B&M gaming, so he's anything but an anti-gambling zealot (I posted some additional information on the Internet page). As he's the Senate Majority Leader, we'll have to target him eventually. The reason I think I'm proposing the entire Nevada delegation is that our discussion points should be consistent for all of them, as they generally represent the same constituents.
Senate:
Reid, Harry (contact at http://reid.senate.gov/contact/email_form.cfm)
Ensign, John (contact at http://ensign.senate.gov/forms/email_form.cfm)
House:
Berkley, Shelley, Nevada, 1st (a big supporter of ours)
Heller, Dean, Nevada, 2nd
Porter, Jon, Nevada, 3rd
Actions:
From 2/26 though 3/4, let's each send one email to each NV senator each day, plus two phone calls and one handwritten letter.
A couple of discussion points off the top of my head:
- Banning of Internet gaming may help large casinos in the short term, but harms Nevadans long term by starting a process where American's acceptance of gaming drops. If middle America believes gaming to be a vice, they won't take their families (or their money) to Nevada. Don't sell out Nevadans for the short term profits of large corporations.
- The poker boom has been fueled by Internet poker. The advertising associated with it has funded the many poker television shows. This has all worked to draw record numbers of tourists to Nevada.
- Large casino companies are at risk of being completely shut out of the Internet gaming market. Existing Internet companies have already developed business models that don't rely on American players. Nevada is losing a lot of potential revenue.
- The U.S. should desire a regulated market. That way, the U.S. can set and enforce the age limits. Also, money laundering issues can be monitored.
- WTO compliance.
Thanks to everyone who participates. I'm looking forward to fighting for our rights. Please reply to this thread if you participate. Thanks!
