All Eyes In the Poker World Are On Harry Reid
Published on 2010-12-08 06:33:00
All eyes are on the status of Harry Reid's "Internet Poker Act of 2010", and for good reason. If passed, this bill will have a huge impact on the industry going forward. It will have an impact, in one way or another, on every online poker player in the world, not just those in the United States.
Anyways, for those interested in the progress of Reid's bill (which is still only in draft form), here are some of the more interesting comments from Tuesday:
First off, from Politico.com, regarding Reid reaching out to Mitch McConnell and Jon Kyl to discuss the bill:
"..Kyl, a leading opponent of online gambling, told POLITICO he intends to block Reid’s proposal and vowed there is 'zero chance — no chance whatsoever that would be part of the tax deal. I don’t think it would be the right thing to do.'"
From the same article, a quote from an unnamed senior congressional aide:
"'The House Republicans will go crazy if this is in the bill,' said one senior congressional aide, declaring it “a total, 100 percent payback” for the support Reid received from gambling interests. The aide asserted that lobbyists for the Las Vegas-based casino operator Harrah's, now known as Caesars Entertainment Corp., even helped write the legislation."
From Chris Krafcik's Twitter feed, who is a writer for GamblingCompliance:
"One of my best DC lobbying sources just told me, re:#ReidBill, 'In my 30 years of lobbying, I've never seen anything deader than this.'"
More from his feed:
"Hrng. from reliable source, but havnt confrmd., that Kyl & Conrad oppose atchng. #ReidBill - or any other bill - to Bush tax-cut bill."
"Another DC lobbyist re: #ReidBill: "I have friends who are close to Kyl, and they say Kyl has not cut any kind of deal.'"
From Scarlet Robinson's Twitter Feed, who is a correspondent for Pokerati.com:
"#reidbill timeline update: look for attachment to tax bill thurs-fri instead of tomorrow"
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At this point, everything is up in the air, including the fate of the tax bill. Some media reports have suggested that angry Democrats will do their best to prevent the tax bill (which, at this point, is expected to have the Internet Poker Act attached to it) from becoming law:
"Others were in full revolt. Sen. Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.) was one of three senators who interrupted Biden's presentation. Afterward, he vowed to "do everything I can to defeat this proposal," including staging a filibuster."
It is expected that the tax bill will eventually pass over the coming weeks. The big question for US online poker players is - will the Internet Poker Act of 2010 be attached to it?
Source: Washington Post
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The takeaway? Nothing is certain, and everything is currently up in the air. There is no real consensus at this point as to whether or not the bill will end up passing..
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Filed Under: Poker Legislation
