Get Back to Work, You Goddamned Idiots... AGAIN

Oh, for the luvva crumb cake. Some people never learn.

Did you know that everything is perfect right now? Magical things have happened. Every American has health insurance. The situation in Iraq? Couldn't be better. The world is a safer place. Everyone has enough money, enough to eat, and a job.

That's why Congress can waste their time with perfectly ridiculous wankery like this latest Mommy Legislation.

Online wagering under attack in Congress

WASHINGTON - Gamblers who prefer their laptops to blackjack tables won't like what Congress is doing. On Tuesday, the House plans to vote on a bill that would ban credit cards for paying online bets and could padlock gambling Web sites.

The legislation would clarify existing law to spell out that it is illegal to gamble online.

To enforce that ban, the bill would prohibit credit cards and other payment forms, such as electronic transfers, from being used to settle online wagers. It also would give law enforcement officials the authority to work with Internet providers to block access to gambling Web sites.

[...]

Other conservative and antigambling groups are supporting the legislation, sponsored by Reps. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and Jim Leach, R-Iowa.

John Kindt, a business professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who has studied the issue, calls the Internet "the crack cocaine" of gambling.

"There are no needle marks. There's no alcohol on the breath. You just click the mouse and lose your house," he said.

The hell? And I suppose being addicted to, you know, crack itself doesn't put any strain on your wallet. But of course, this is how Congress works now... ignore an actual problem, like drug addiction... don't spend time or pass legislation to actually help addicts, provide treatment, and get them off the stuff... It's much easier to create a fake epidemic like online gambling, and make that your cause.

Because, like everything, it's all about the money, baby.

Online lotteries are allowed in the latest bill, largely at the behest of states that increasingly rely on lotteries to augment tax revenues.

Pro-sports leagues also like the bill, arguing that Web wagering could hurt the integrity of their sports.

The horse racing industry also supports the bill because of the exemption it would get. Betting operators would not be prohibited from any activity allowed under the Interstate Horseracing Act. That law written in the 1970s set up rules for interstate betting on racing. It was updated a few years ago to clarify that betting on horse racing over the Internet is allowed.

Greg Avioli, chief executive officer of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, said the mention of horse racing in the bill is "a recognition of existing federal law," not a new carve-out.

He said the racing industry has a strong future in the digital age and acknowledged the bill would send Internet gamblers to racing sites. "They'd return to the one place they can bet legally," Avioli said.

That's what some critics say is unfair.

"Somehow we find ourselves in a situation where Congress has gotten in the business of cherry-picking types of gambling," complained Rep. Robert Wexler (news, bio, voting record), D-Fla. Wexler had tried unsuccessfully to include exemptions for dog racing and jai alai, both popular in Florida.

(Emp. mine) Yeah, how the fuck did that happen? This couldn't have anything to do with the fact that most of these online gambling companies are based outside the U.S., could it? Why should all those greenbacks be going outside the country, when they could be fattening the wallet of some rich asshole right here at home?

After all, it's not like anyone ever lost tons of money to the lottery. Or horse racing. It's that goddamned online blackjack that's the culprit!

I'm getting really sick of these stupid Congressional actions that serve no purpose, other than to make the rich richer, while giving the appearance of actually giving a shit about Americans. This is stupid, this is a waste of time, and if this ever does make it to debate, I may start throwing things.

I'm sure there are people out there that could use some help. You know, after all that excellent work done for them already.

(Good heavens, Miss Cross-post, you're beautiful!)