Is online gambling really the public menace the HR says it is?

[Revtim]

@Spectre of Pithecanthropus

Good point, and I did think of it. But there’s been a similar danger ever since the first online retailer took off.

Or ever since the first retailer took orders over the phone, for that matter.

[Cheesesteak]

@Revtim

Or ever since the first retailer took orders over the phone, for that matter.

Internet? Phone? What about taking orders through the mail?

That Sears guy was nothing but trouble.

[Martin_Hyde]

@Spectre of Pithecanthropus

Well, it appears the U.S. House Of Representatives has got its panties in a twist about online gambling, for they have just passed a bill of prohibition which will be submitted to the Senate for action.

Not being involved in it myself, I don’t see much of what goes on, but I find it hard to believe it’s the public danger it’s purported to be. Additionally, the federal government doesn’t normally legislate against vice, leaving that to the states. True, there’s the War On Drugs, but I consider that a special case because it resulted, IMO, from a perceived urgent need affecting the entire nation. (I don’t agree with most aspects of drug prohibition, but can still understand how it’s perceived to be a problem that only prohibition can solve). And there was alcohol prohibition in the 1920s, but that has been mostly considered a failure since it was repealed.

So what’s the deal here? Is it really just the conservative congresscritters pandering to the emotions of social conservative voters?

Gambling has sort of a bad reputation. I lived in a lot of different places growing up, some definitely conservative “bible belt” areas, and others decidedly not so, and in general when I was a child/teenager gambling just wasn’t permitted or really accepted in most places.

That’s why places like Las Vegas and Atlantic City were so special, you could gamble there to your heart’s content, and you couldn’t in many other places.

I think part of it is gambling has long had the negative association with organized crime and other unsavory things that has prejudiced a lot of people against it.

Personally, I recognize that gambling can be a big problem. It can wreck families and lives. But, at the same time, I think people should be free to use their money on games of chance, wagers on sporting events, card games et cetera to their heart’s content. As long as there is some regulation in place to make sure the players at least aren’t getting taken ala a three card monte game.

[spingears]

@Spectre of Pithecanthropus

Well, it appears the U.S. House Of Representatives has got its panties in a twist about online gambling, for they have just passed a bill of prohibition which will be submitted to the Senate for action.

Could the fact that gambling winnings are taxable but losses cannot be claimed have any bearing on the subject?
Also there is no real control over who can gamble.

[BrainGlutton]

@Spectre of Pithecanthropus

Is online gambling really the public menace the HR says it is?

50 bucks says it isn’t! Takers?