@nielsenj 215304 wrote:
I would love to be as optimistic as the writers in this thread, but I see no signs of legalization anytime soon, economic crisis or not. Barney Frank’s initiatives are appreciated, but his bill is far, far from being a law. I see no reason to assume that anything will happen under the Obama Administration. If it was a priority something would have happened by now. But if you have information/articles that will make me think otherwise please provide them. I will like to be proven wrong.
I don’t believe any “hard facts” exist, so any responses to this poll are pure speculation. Personally, here is why I believe it will happen during the Obama administration:
1) The U.S. is poor – the national debt is over $12 trillion dollars – the tax revenue from online gambling is definitely attractive on both the federal and state level.
2) Harrah’s hires Mitch Garber (ex-CEO of PartyGaming), does a deal with 888, and launches CaesarsCasino.com & WSOP.com. These are US-facing brands — my belief is they are lobbying hard for regulation as they will likely be one of the first beneficiaries of a law change.
3) UIGEA is an absolute nightmare for banks to administer. The banking restrictions are at the heart of this bill, and if those can’t be implemented, then my thought is the government will truly understand the ineffectiveness of the laws.
If anyone responded to this poll with online gambling being legalized in the US in 2015 or sooner, please state your reasons as well.