Le Jacquelope
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Ok now let's admit it. If the Democrats totally had their way with America,
We will get a super nanny state.
Really. Come on. It's ironic that Barney Frank would say what he said. Really.
Of course, the Republican Party has already proven that they want a nanny state for big business - a Corporate State which consistently defends their interests at the expense of the common people, while abolishing as many regulations as they can get away with. Corporations would get all of the nanny state benefits and none of the drawbacks with Republicans in absolute power. Hell, they almost did in these last 6 years!
Now for the 5 millionth time, I'll reiterate: I'm in favor of a strong Democratic Congressional majority with an honorable right winger like Ron Paul holding the Presidency to hit the brakes. I never want a Democratic Congress overseen by a Democratic President, any more than I want another era of total Republican domination.
Choosing between a Communist Nanny state vs a laissez-faire Corporate state is like choosing to jump into a pool of hydrochloric acid or a pool of sodium hydroxide. Most people tend to prefer to mix the two pools into one before they jump in: because these two deadly liquids, when mixed 1 to 1, becomes water. Likewise: society can't thrive without some element of socialism or some element of capitalism. It's what makes America great.
http://news.com.com/Legalizing+Net+...857.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
Legalizing Net gambling? There's a chance
By Declan McCullagh
http://news.com.com/Legalizing+Net+gambling+Theres+a+chance/2100-1028_3-6189857.html
Story last modified Fri Jun 08 18:01:16 PDT 2007
Opponents of a federal ban on Internet gambling said during a congressional hearing Friday that it would be wiser to legalize and regulate betting than prohibit it.
"In the end, adults ought to be able to decide for themselves how they spend the money they earn themselves," said Rep. Barney Frank, the Democratic chairman of the House Financial Services committee and primary backer of the legalization effort.
Friday's hearing included witnesses from companies that process online payments. In general, they echoed the arguments once used in favor of ending alcohol prohibition and that are now being invoked to decriminalize marijuana: It's better to legalize, tax and carefully regulate an industry than let it flourish with far less oversight in the black market.
Some countries already do just that. In the United Kingdom, for instance, Internet gambling is legal and strictly regulated. Some of the larger online casino operators are publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange.
"On the basis of my experience I can unequivocally state that Internet gambling can be regulated, and that abuses can be effectively regulated and controlled," said Jon Prideaux, a consultant who until last year was the head of Visa Europe's Internet arm.
A law that President Bush signed last year tried to eliminate many forms of online gambling by targeting Internet service providers and financial intermediaries, namely banks and credit card companies that process payments to offshore Web sites. The bill never received a formal vote in the entire Congress but instead was glued onto an unrelated port security bill that the Senate unanimously approved.
Now the pro-legalization forces are trying to marshal a counterattack. Frank introduced a bill in April that would replace the current broad prohibition with strict regulations--including criminal background checks and financial disclosure--imposed on companies that offer legal Internet gambling. (It's called the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act.)
Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a 2008 Republican presidential contender who topped CNET News.com's technology scorecard last year, said adults should be allowed to make up their own minds about whether to gamble. He said he was a strong supporter of Frank's bill "to restore the rights of Americans to decide for themselves whether to gamble online."
Now on News.com
It's not TV--or HBO. It's the Internet Photos: The greatest arcade games of the '80s Week in review: Cell phone hang-up Extra: A dogged Web mag pioneer
Gerald Kitchen, the chief executive of U.K.-based SecureTrading Group, said his company is a payment service provider that processes a wide variety of financial transactions, including ones related to online gambling. He said SecureTrading's system has been reviewed by banks including Barclays, Lloyds and the Royal Bank of Scotland, and provides protections against money laundering, underage gambling and compulsive gambling.
"There are ways to protect against these exact harms and ills that the opponents of Internet gambling regularly cite as reasons to prohibit Internet gambling," Kitchen said.
But it's too early to say whether the bill will receive a favorable committee vote. For one thing, the top Republican on the panel, Rep. Spencer Bachus from Alabama, offered an impassioned defense of criminalization.
"Some people claim that illegal Internet gambling's a victimless crime," Bachus said. In reality, he warned, it's a "mushrooming epidemic leaving in its wake suicides, crime, family tragedies."
Copyright ©1995-2007 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
We will get a super nanny state.
Really. Come on. It's ironic that Barney Frank would say what he said. Really.
Of course, the Republican Party has already proven that they want a nanny state for big business - a Corporate State which consistently defends their interests at the expense of the common people, while abolishing as many regulations as they can get away with. Corporations would get all of the nanny state benefits and none of the drawbacks with Republicans in absolute power. Hell, they almost did in these last 6 years!
Now for the 5 millionth time, I'll reiterate: I'm in favor of a strong Democratic Congressional majority with an honorable right winger like Ron Paul holding the Presidency to hit the brakes. I never want a Democratic Congress overseen by a Democratic President, any more than I want another era of total Republican domination.
Choosing between a Communist Nanny state vs a laissez-faire Corporate state is like choosing to jump into a pool of hydrochloric acid or a pool of sodium hydroxide. Most people tend to prefer to mix the two pools into one before they jump in: because these two deadly liquids, when mixed 1 to 1, becomes water. Likewise: society can't thrive without some element of socialism or some element of capitalism. It's what makes America great.
http://news.com.com/Legalizing+Net+...857.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&subj=news
Legalizing Net gambling? There's a chance
By Declan McCullagh
http://news.com.com/Legalizing+Net+gambling+Theres+a+chance/2100-1028_3-6189857.html
Story last modified Fri Jun 08 18:01:16 PDT 2007
Opponents of a federal ban on Internet gambling said during a congressional hearing Friday that it would be wiser to legalize and regulate betting than prohibit it.
"In the end, adults ought to be able to decide for themselves how they spend the money they earn themselves," said Rep. Barney Frank, the Democratic chairman of the House Financial Services committee and primary backer of the legalization effort.
Friday's hearing included witnesses from companies that process online payments. In general, they echoed the arguments once used in favor of ending alcohol prohibition and that are now being invoked to decriminalize marijuana: It's better to legalize, tax and carefully regulate an industry than let it flourish with far less oversight in the black market.
Some countries already do just that. In the United Kingdom, for instance, Internet gambling is legal and strictly regulated. Some of the larger online casino operators are publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange.
"On the basis of my experience I can unequivocally state that Internet gambling can be regulated, and that abuses can be effectively regulated and controlled," said Jon Prideaux, a consultant who until last year was the head of Visa Europe's Internet arm.
A law that President Bush signed last year tried to eliminate many forms of online gambling by targeting Internet service providers and financial intermediaries, namely banks and credit card companies that process payments to offshore Web sites. The bill never received a formal vote in the entire Congress but instead was glued onto an unrelated port security bill that the Senate unanimously approved.
Now the pro-legalization forces are trying to marshal a counterattack. Frank introduced a bill in April that would replace the current broad prohibition with strict regulations--including criminal background checks and financial disclosure--imposed on companies that offer legal Internet gambling. (It's called the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act.)
Texas Rep. Ron Paul, a 2008 Republican presidential contender who topped CNET News.com's technology scorecard last year, said adults should be allowed to make up their own minds about whether to gamble. He said he was a strong supporter of Frank's bill "to restore the rights of Americans to decide for themselves whether to gamble online."
Now on News.com
It's not TV--or HBO. It's the Internet Photos: The greatest arcade games of the '80s Week in review: Cell phone hang-up Extra: A dogged Web mag pioneer
Gerald Kitchen, the chief executive of U.K.-based SecureTrading Group, said his company is a payment service provider that processes a wide variety of financial transactions, including ones related to online gambling. He said SecureTrading's system has been reviewed by banks including Barclays, Lloyds and the Royal Bank of Scotland, and provides protections against money laundering, underage gambling and compulsive gambling.
"There are ways to protect against these exact harms and ills that the opponents of Internet gambling regularly cite as reasons to prohibit Internet gambling," Kitchen said.
But it's too early to say whether the bill will receive a favorable committee vote. For one thing, the top Republican on the panel, Rep. Spencer Bachus from Alabama, offered an impassioned defense of criminalization.
"Some people claim that illegal Internet gambling's a victimless crime," Bachus said. In reality, he warned, it's a "mushrooming epidemic leaving in its wake suicides, crime, family tragedies."
Copyright ©1995-2007 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.