Online Gambling Gathers Bipartisan Support Despite Fringe Foes

Republicans and conservatives are seeing the wisdom and common sense inherent in allowing legal online gambling, even as opponents stridently repeat false assertions.

Barney Frank's legislation to license and regulate online gambling sites is picking up momentum, drawing vocal support from not only other Democrats but Republicans as well. Despite increasingly frantic repetition of the same tired falsehoods by gaming opponents, more legislators are seeing the issue as sensible and reasonable government.

According to reporting by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, such conservative politicians as Representative Joe Barton of Texas have been won over to the side of regulated online gambling. Events including the massive support for National Poker Week have demonstrated the popularity of the cause, and the need to generate revenue while easing restraint on the US financial system and mending fences with foreign trade partners have led to a less partisan dialogue.

Still, foes of online gambling airily toss off assertions that have been proven flat wrong, hoping repeating these lies will cause a public acceptance of them. Suzii Paynter, the director of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission, tells the Star-Telegram that "gambling is addictive; everyone knows that.

"The thing that makes it worse is that it’s too much, too fast. When it’s available to you 24 hours a day, and in your home, there’s complete access and speed for the addiction," says Paynter.

The only problem is that scientific testing totally debunks her statement. Not only does she show a lack of understanding of the term "addiction," but she continues to push online gambling as a greater level of problem, despite the mass of evidence from Harvard University on down that the reverse is true.

"Gambling machines addict victims much faster than other forms of wagering, earning electronic gambling machines the title of the 'crack cocaine’ of gambling," says Bill Kearney of Stop Predatory Gambling.

But, says OCA gaming analyst Sherman Bradley, only foes with no shred of impartiality use the "crack cocaine" description, as more scientific, objective, detached studies reveal online gambling to be safer than land-based gambling, and problem gambling to be a symptom needing treatment beyond the simple withdrawal of gaming.

Barton tells the paper that "this is like anything else. Don’t go to a poker room or casino with money you need for the rent. I consider this discretionary entertainment."