Bob Goodlatte is at it again–he’s proposing an Internet gaming prohibition. And now he’s claiming that the only reason his bill didn’t pass in 2000 was opposition from disgraced lobbyist du jour Jack Abramoff. From Reuters:
Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte will reintroduce a bill this week that would prohibit Internet gambling, a fast-growing industry valued at about $12 billion, a spokeswoman for Goodlatte said on Tuesday.
Goodlatte, a Republican, first introduced legislation to ban online gambling nearly a decade ago. In 2000, his bill had strong support in the House but was unexpectedly defeated due in part to efforts by Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who represented gambling interests, according to the spokeswoman.
Abramoff pleaded guilty to fraud charges in early January and is cooperating with prosecutors in a corruption probe that could implicate lawmakers and officials across Washington.
The previous version of Goodlatte’s bill would make it illegal to use the Internet for gambling and give law enforcement officials the authority to stop credit card payments to offshore Internet gambling sites.
I don’t recall Goodlatte even mentioning Abramoff before this year–a quick Google search doesn’t show any mention of this connection before 2005, when Abramoff’s malfeasance became well-known.
There are well-known connections between the lobbyist and “gaming interests,” but I think it’s important to say that comapnies invovled in commercial gaming are not the monolithic entity that Goodlatte suggests.
In fact, this speech from Frank Fahrenkopf, dating from 2001, shows that the American Gaming Association, the lobbying group of the commercial casino industry, opposed “unregulated Internet gaming” in that year, one year after Abramoff reportedly scuttled the net bet ban.
Of course, outsiders can only speculate at what goes on “inside the Beltway,” so who knows?
Speaking of the American Gaming Association, a Google search for that body yields the AGA site, as well as the National Indian Gaming Association.
Number three, though, is a shock: The American Cornhole Association.
At first, I thought that surely I had seen one too many episodes of Beavis and Butthead, or that this was some kind of joke. But if it is a joke, it’s the most brilliant example of extended irony I’ve seen in a while:
The American Cornhole Association was established by a small group of dedicated Cornholers from the west side of Cincinnati, Ohio….
Our mission is to introduce our friends and neighbors to the game of Cornhole or Corn Toss (some folks call it Bean Bag or Bean Toss) and to establish more standardized rules for Cornhole or Corn Toss play around the country.
Living most of my life on the East or West coasts, I did not know that the game of cornhole existed. The Internet is truly a boon to education.
Maybe the ACA really will establish cornhole as America’s sport. And ultralounges, poker rooms, and celebrity chef eateries will be joined by cornhole ranges (or whatever you call a place where the game is played) in Las Vegas Strip casinos.
That is, unless the “gaming interests” keep cornhole down.