GOP Leaders Look to Shut Down Online Gambling in United States
Despite the many business friendly and economic growth policies of the United States Republican Party one area in which they continue to stumble over themselves is their stance on gambling online. This has been a problem for the Grand Old Party since 2006 when then President George W. Bush and his administration tied up millions of dollars of American Players that they were never able to fully get back when payment method company leaders were harassed and new enforcement measures were taken.
Republican Presidential hopefuls Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio, who are currently United States Senators, have co-sponsored a bill that would ban online gambling in the United States.
Online gambling was considered illegal in the United States until 2011 when the Justice Department said it was legal as long as it was done in-state and that internet sports gambling was prohibited.
Graham has taken a hard line about gambling on a mobile device and blamed current President Barack Obama for the increase in gaming activity.
Rubio, to his credit, was less hysterical than Graham and did use the angles of addiction and fraud to build his case for the ban. Rubio said that Obama did a capricious end run around the US Congress and decided to re-interpret gambling laws on his own.
There is also a Las Vegas element to the story as Sheldon Adelson, owner of the Las Vegas Sands casino enterprises and a major GOP donor, is a vehement opponent of online gambling.
