As we noted yesterday, the Poker Players Alliance supports attempts by US states to pass intrastate online poker legislation, but only because the PPA feels it helps put pressure on politicians to act at the federal level. Looking at Iowa’s proposed poker legislation, PPA exec director John Pappas said his organization was “very concerned about proposals that would limit play just to Iowa residents.” In response, the bill’s sponsor Sen. Jeff Danielson said he would be “supportive of a federal law that creates some uniform standards, but I am not going to hold my breath until that happens.”
Terry Rich, CEO of the Iowa Lottery, concurs. “The debate is whether there should be federal legislation. My feeling is that it should protect the state’s border so you can have state control, regulation and taxing rather than outside.” Studying the position from both sides, Prof. I. Nelson Rose notes that “the states aren’t waiting” on the feds to move, but agrees with Pappas that Iowa may simply be too small in population to make its own poker network sufficiently liquid. “Players want to be able to have the game they want when they want it … You need a certain mass of players to do that.”
Speaking of a certain mass, Meghan McCain, the pleasant enough but not terribly well-informed daughter of US Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), has written a piece for the Daily Beast in which she refers to Las Vegas’ 26% unemployment rate as “Libya-like.” Meghan urges Americans to come to the city’s aid by paying a visit and dropping some coin at the roulette tables (in keeping with her political preferences, she suggests you wager on ‘red’). Meghan also took a shot at the media for criticizing her father during the 2008 presidential campaign over his love of craps, while simultaneously praising Barrack Obama’s love of poker. Meghan complains that this was unfairly built into a ‘McCain’s a reckless gambler, while Obama’s a skilled strategist’ meme. Meghan… It’s over. Let it go. Why don’t you go back to releasing those Twitter pics of your breasts all scrunched up together? Seriously… Do it now, if possible…
Speaking of Vegas… Eighty years ago today (March 19), as the full effects of the Great Depression were taking hold, the state of Nevada saw a surefire way to boost its state treasury by legalizing gambling. On this same day just eight years ago, US President George W. Bush saw a surefire way of saddling his country with trillions of dollars in new debt by ordering the invasion of Iraq. Hindsight being 20/20 and all, which decision looks the wiser? Oh well, what happens in Baghdad, stays in Baghdad, right? Right?
