Online Casinos Wait Their Turn as Obama Reverses Bush Policies
Barack Obama and the members of his administration have acted swiftly to undo last-second changes and midnight rules pressed into policy by George Bush in his last days as a lame duck. Members of the online gambling industry are trying to wait patiently as the new President repudiates many changes, with the UIGEA hopefully on the horizon.
Already, Obama has frozen regulations still in their review period, to be looked over by his people before advancing into official policy. Un fortuately, the UIGEA rules were pushed through by Bush White House aide and errant NFL lobbyist William Wichterman so that the review period ended one day before Obama was empowered to extend it.
Obama has laid out severe ethics codes for his people as part of his first week's accomplishments, perhaps inspired by Wichterman's conflict of interest concerning online casinos. Obama also emphasized a need for diplomacy and cordial relations with other countries. Certainly the European Commission would be mollified to some extent by a resolution to the Internet gambling protectionism employed by the US.
For those worried that the initial impetus to change foolish strategies may subside before the online gambling issue is addressed, pay attention to Obama as he says, "Our strategy is not to signify change, but to bring it."
Keeping his promise to guard Internet freedom and meeting the country's need for strong new revenue sources should lead the President to soon turn his gaze to legalizing and regulating Internet gaming.
