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Kevin Bohn, Dana Bash and Jessica Yellin
CNNSenate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, may have to fold his efforts to push a measure legalizing online poker in the United States into a tax-cut bill, in light of strenuous opposition from Republicans.
Such a provision would greatly benefit some of Reid’s biggest campaign backers – those in the gaming industry, which has been lobbying for the change.
But when Reid was asked Wednesday afternoon whether he was still pushing the poker bill during the congressional lame-duck session, he said, “We are still working on it,” according to this office.
Democratic and Republican sources had told CNN Reid was pushing for the provision to be included in the bill to extend the Bush-era tax cuts.
One of those leading the opposition is Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Arizona, who vowed to block any attempt to include the poker legalization in the tax bill.
Wednesday afternoon Kyl told CNN the measure was dead, saying, “Senator Reid has agreed with me that it will not happen.”
Reid’s office refused CNN’s request to discuss his push for the legalization.
The support by the four-term Nevada Democrat, who won re-election in November, for the online poker measure is an apparent reversal. When Congress addressed online betting in 2006, Reid opposed its legalization.
Some House Republicans also bristled at news Reid was attempting to shoehorn the Nevada-friendly legislation into the tax deal.
source : Anderson Cooper 360: Blog Archive – Reid pushes online poker legislation but finds the deck stacked
