George Will Speaks Out For Legalizing Online Casinos
Conservative columnist George Will, the voice of Reagan Republicans, wrote in his syndicated Washington Post column this weekend of the absurdity of laws against online casinos, and the reasons online poker and Internet gambling should be legal. The argument, coming from one of the most logical and precise thinkers in the Republican camp, may serve to further widen the differences between libertarian Republicans such as Will and religious radicals seeking to force lifestyle choices on others.
Will brings up the seldom-addressed point that, in passing the UIGEA, Congress not only curried favor with church groups, but also protected state government revenues derived from lottery gambling. By passing the online casino ban, the federal government acted to ensure gaming patrons would be limited to choices that fed state revenue.
But, he notes, by government accepting gambling as a part of its business, the moral ground is lost.
"Having turned gambling, which once was treated as a sin, into a social policy, government looks unusually silly criminalizing online forms of it," says Will. He notes that "gambling is productive of pleasure for tens of millions of Americans for whom it is a frequent pastime," and wonders "whether government should try to tightly circumscribe a ubiquitous human activity that generally harms nobody."
Will goes on to state an even stronger case for online poker, noting that the game of skill doesn't deserve to be lumped in a category with games of chance.
"Congress probably should fold its interference with Internet gambling, and certainly should get its 10 thumbs off Americans' freedom to exercise their poker skills online," Will concludes.
