Frist Silent After Online Gambling Bill Signing
Published: Sunday, October 15, 2006 Online-Casinos.com
FRIST SILENT AFTER ONLINE GAMBLING BILL SIGNING
Strangely reticent politician who wreaked havoc on the Internet gambling industry in the USA
Friday's signing in Washington of the Safe Ports Act and its unrelated attachment the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was attended by a flock of politicians who had been instrumental in shepherding the primary bill through Congress - including Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist.
By dint of some remarkably skilled last-minute political negotiating and manouevering, Frist managed to get the anti-online gambling measure attached to the Safe Ports Act, a must-pass law which tired, end-of-session politicians were required to vote on in the early hours of the morning before being allowed to recess for mid-term electioneering.
The Las Vegas Review Journal this week points out that Bush did not say one word about online betting during the 10-minute ceremony when he signed the bill to increase security at the nation's ports.
The publication also reports that Frist was the only lawmaker to follow Bush out of the room after the signing ceremony, and he did not appear at a news conference outside the White House after the signing. Unusual for a politician to hide his light under a bushel after such a resounding success which almost immediately wreaked havoc in the online gambling industry.
Frist spokeswoman Carolyn Weyforth criticised opponents of the Internet gambling ban who charge the majority leader prioritised the legislation to gain the endorsement of Leach for the 2008 presidential caucuses in Iowa. "I think that those people are looking at politics instead of looking at the fact that Internet gambling is illegal," Weyforth said. "This bill puts a mechanism in place to enforce existing laws that already made online gambling illegal."
Radley Balko, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, accused Republican leaders who advanced the ban of being dishonest. "Early on, they said this was lobbying reform and an anti-Jack Abramoff bill," said Balko, referring to the disgraced lobbyist who has been convicted of bribing members of Congress.
"Actually, this bill is very close to what he [Abramoff] wanted because it includes an exemption for state lotteries," Balko said. He added: "Internet gambling is a $12 billion industry and it is not going away, but this ban is going to put a dent in it, and it's going to make it easier for shadier Web sites to prey on minors," Balko said.
Frank Fahrenkopf, president of the American Gaming Association, agreed and said he was not surprised Bush did not mention the Internet gambling ban during the signing ceremony. "It had nothing to do with port security," Fahrenkopf said.
