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Monday 11th June 2012
Anti-gambling groups from 13 US states sent a co-authored letter to Congressional leaders last week calling on the federal government to block efforts at legalising online gambling.
The organisations from Wisconsin, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Hawaii, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee wrote that the benefits associated with legalising online gambling will be far outweighed by the societal costs and want Congress to strengthen the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in order to ‘ensure its clear intent that the Internet not become a giant online casino’.
“The bottom line is we are The Family Foundation and expansion of gambling through casinos or online is targeting one group only, moms and dads,” said Kent Ostrander from The Family Foundation of Kentucky, which was one of the groups that lent its name to the letter.
“It’s an effort to separate a family from its assets. The family is the building block of any society and yet it is the most vulnerable institution in that society.”
Ostrander told the Associated Press that there is currently a push in Kentucky along with many other states to add slot machines or casino-style gambling to racetracks in order to increase the venues’ viability. However, he stated that the added tax revenues to state governments will be more than offset by the societal costs of expanded gambling particularly if it is made as easy as logging on to a computer.
“We are going to find ourselves with more broken homes and families than we can afford,” Ostrander told the AP.
The US Justice Department ruled in December that in-state online bets not involving sports teams do not violate federal law and several states including Nevada and New Jersey are rushing to be among the first to get their Internet gambling operation up and running before the competition.
“We must protect our children and families from the destruction of safeguards Congress has previously established,” read the letter from the over 50 anti-gambling organisations.
It went on to declare that the December interpretation had ‘unleashed actions by a growing number of revenue-hungry state governments to turn the Internet into the largest casino ever and welcoming into homes a greater social cost than any government can handle’.
“This action is undermining Congress’ clear intent when it passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006 that online gambling should be prohibited,” read the letter.
The groups that signed the letter included Wisconsin Family Action, Louisiana Family Forum Action, North Carolina Family Policy Council, Citizens for Community Values Action in Ohio, Pennsylvania Family Council, Palmetto Family Council in South Carolina, Missouri Family Policy Council, Massachusetts Family Institute, Minnesota Family Council and Institute, Hawaii Coalition Against Legalised Gambling, Georgia Family Council and Family Action of Tennessee.
Source: OnlineCasinoNews
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