Internet gambling by states

The Obama Justice Department quietly issued a legal opinion – just before a long Christmas weekend – that allows states to set up nonsports Internet gambling. The opinion upends decades of contrary decisions, but its real effect will be on the poor (and young) who suffer the most from gambling.

A campaign by powerful gaming interests to legalize online gambling in America has won a crucial victory from the Obama administration. On Friday, the Justice Department issued a legal opinion that allows states to authorize Web-based, nonsports gambling within their borders.

For one, big doubts remain over whether states can indeed restrain such digital games of chance to residents while also keeping children from playing them. State lotteries, for examples, have a poor record of preventing retailers from selling tickets to minors.

And even if states can outsmart tech-savvy teens or out-of-state gamblers, once enough states jump into Internet gambling they will likely be able to work together and create a national scheme for such activity. That would violate the spirit if not the letter of a 2006 federal law banning such interstate activity.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the ... -by-states

Good idea... bad idea... is this the way to "raise" funding for the federal government?

It is already happening, but overseas companies that are hard to monitor or control are making money.

It raises good debate, should states be benefiting off others vices or addictions? Already goverment makes more money off tobacco sales than RJ Reynolds.

Personally? I would love for sports related gambling to be legal in Colorado, it is a pain to work with a back alley bookie.

I am sure there are consequences, but there always are when people are free to do what they want.

I have no issues with it. People own their money and they should be able to buy what they want with it. If someone wants to spend $1 in order to owe another 5c, I have much I would like to sell them. I see no issues with sports betting either.

Around here it is fun to bet on mountain names, people are constantly wrong.

FredHayek wrote: It is already happening, but overseas companies that are hard to monitor or control are making money.

It raises good debate, should states be benefiting off others vices or addictions? Already goverment makes more money off tobacco sales than RJ Reynolds.

Personally? I would love for sports related gambling to be legal in Colorado, it is a pain to work with a back alley bookie.

There are people out of our country selling drugs to our citizens. They are hard to control. So... we should start selling drugs to our citizens? I guess this would be fine with you... you already seem to have no problem breaking the law with a "back alley bookie". This is where social conservative make me puke. They will try to tell an adult who they can have sex with, but they have no problem with other social issues like gambling, drinking or smoking. Hypocrites. I have no problem with legalized gambling... but your rational stinks. I have no problem with two men having sex. If a person wants to ruin themselves and their family by gambling all their money away... fine with me... only cleans out the gene pool quicker. But I'm also not interested in having to have the public support them in any way, before or after plying their habit. Tough cookies.

One of the arguments for legal abortions was that they would be safer for the mother, er, patient, than back-alley abortions. Would making abortion illegal again make it more unsafe, but would also probably reduce abortios because some women wouldn't be willing to go through it.

Just like meth production, originally it was very easy to get the chemicals and make high quality product, but as the goverment cracked down on the supply chain, more dangerous ingredients were used, and the product had much worse side effects. It might be better for society to turn a blind eye to the problem and let the "good stuff" become available again. Possibly even letting doctors to write scripts for "diet pills" again. Might be a better alternative than toxic meth houses, etc. Reminder, currently pain opiates are prescription abused.