Online gambling ban saves morals, money

[KingOtter]

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Our government has fought to ban online gambling, declaring it a threat to public morals.

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Since when is the government the guardian of morality? There is nothing in the Constitution that says that this is a function of the government. Legislating morality and having the goverment enforce it is kin to enforcing a state religion, and this is clearly a function that the founders despised.

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I agree that the idea of allowing citizens to legally bet obscene amounts of money on the internet is detrimental to our country for several reasons.

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Which amount is obscene? The $2 I used to post a big blind into my poker game, or the $10 billion in revenue that the US cannot tax because they don't allow online gambling operations within their borders? The writer is coloring the piece with subjective, biased descriptions.

While $100 may be an obscene amount to 'wager' to someone making only $5,000 a year, to someone making $150,000 it may just be an entertainment expense.

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The United States has been attempting for several years now to ban online gambling. This matter isn't as trivial as it may seem on the surface. According to USA Today, experts estimate that online gambling is a $10 billion a year industry and the outcome of the case could have effects on the global industry.

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In other words... it is KILLING the politicians that they can't get any of their hands on this money.

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Our government's response has been that internet gaming allows children access to illegal gambling and therefore is different from gambling at casinos or purchasing lottery tickets.

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Is illegal gambling 'worse' then legal gambling? How are they different? If I play poker in Las Vegas, and it is legal, then why cannot I do it in my private home? And isn't it up to the parents to regulate their children's exposure? I'm much more concerned with my children's exposure to hard-core pornography on the internet then I am worried that they are going to find an online casino, download a client, deposit money and accidentally wager some money on roulette.

Online gambling is too complicated to be a legitimate, serious threat to accidental exposure by children. And in the cases where parents have already downloaded, and gamble online there obviously needs to be discussion with the children involved about what it is, that it is 'real' money, and the computer secured so they can't accidentally access it. User name and passwords are inherently parts of online gambling.

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I know students may feel as though they have the right to spend their money as they choose without government interference, but

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'but I think they shouldn't.' is how this sentence should end.

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what about the rampant number of gambling addictions that plague an increasing amount of people each year? Should the government just ignore that? Baylor University professor Earl Grinols, a gambling expert, estimates that society's cost for a single gambling addict is $10,000.

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Was this a particular study concerning online gamblers? Or just gamblers in general? The information is to vague to mean anything in this context.


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Why in the world would we introduce and advocate a more accessible method that allows you to easily gamble thousands of dollars away without leaving your house?

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Market economies are a bitch, aren't they? Actually providing services that consumers want to use, instead of tight, government regulation intended to protect the stupid masses from their stupid selves.

What about the people that gamble INTO thousands of dollars (instead of away) while sitting in their underwear at home? Why do you want to take away a means that, by their skills and dedication, they can make this money? Or is the glass just always half empty?


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College students are using online betting as a quick fix to pay their rent, grab some extra cash, and have a good time.

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Wait, this is against everything you just said... people who gamble online always lose, don't they? How can they grab extra cash if they're gambling away thousands of dollars?


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Most students already have thousands of dollars in debt simply from college loans. Why are we choosing to add to our debt on a whim?

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Anyone who uses borrowed money to gambling has a problem, and needs to have it addressed.


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Well, a bit of justification is that people have taken gambling to extremes and are betting on anything and everything you could possibly imagine.

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People aren't taking internet porn to extremes? You wouldn't believe what you can find out there. This comparison isn't valid. And you continue assuming everyone who gambles online is signing away their checks to feed the monster. How many billions of dollars per year are spent on porn site fees?

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Students should be concentrating on earning money from hard work, not from the click of a mouse and a bit of luck. Internet gambling sends the message that earning money is fun and easy you just sign online, cross your fingers, and hope for the best. But life doesn't work that way.

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Online gambling doesn't work that way, either. If you spent some time investigating both sides of the story, perhaps you would see that winning players spend a lot of time, effort, and study to improve their game and make sure they become winning players.

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Internet gambling isn't setting a good, moral example of how to earn an honest living and I welcome legislation that would regulate it.

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It sounds like you want to return to purtanism, and letting the government define morality. I say no to this, thank you very much. The United States was founded and particularly designed to escape this type of government. We fight against tyrannical theocracies, like the Taliban. Americans fight and die for freedom, not the enforcement of proper and good morality.

KO