By Samantha Williams

Regardless of anyone’s political leanings, the Democrat side of the race in the primaries is somewhat more interesting to watch than the Republican side.  After all, the two most leading contenders of the Democrats for the presidential race – Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton – are both larger than life personalities.  Whichever of these two wins the initial race to the White House will create a new chapter in the history of the United States.

Will a Democrat victory in the White House prove to be a win for the gaming industry as well?

On the side of Barack Obama, the senator from Illinois has been very public in the past about his stance against gambling, online or otherwise.  He has always shown skepticism about the merits of the gaming industry, not to mention obliviousness to the fact that casinos do provide jobs in less privileged areas not just in Nevada but even in Illinois.  Many industry insiders, including executives from Harrah’s Entertainment such as Peter Satre and former Las Vegas mayor Jan Jones, believe that Obama does not really see any benefit to supporting the gaming industry.  Peter Satre had stated that Obama “thinks gambling has a moral and social corruption attached to it.”

But Obama may be changing his tune nonetheless.  The Los Angeles Times reported that according to Obama, it is possible to make a “successful economic model” out of the gaming industry.  There is a clincher, of course.  The gaming industry, according to Obama, can only be a successful economic model if it is “properly regulated.”

Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, has been showing enthusiastic support for the gaming industry, and has been doing so right from the start.  That is why many industry insiders love her as well.  While she indeed recognizes the need for the development of technologies and practices that can regulate the gaming industry, she nonetheless recognizes that the gambling industry has its own contributions to the economy.  The gaming industry creates jobs and provides stimulus in economic growth.

Clinton has even gone on to liken the perceived social hazards linked with the gaming industry to the environmental hazards posed by industries where pollution or dumping toxic waste is inevitable.  Such companies have the power to create harm, but that does not mean that they do any harm indeed.  This, nonetheless, necessitates the need for proper regulation.

But could it be just campaign talk on the Clinton side?  Hillary was quoted to have claimed that the principles set by the Methodist church serve as her “personal moral guide.”  It cannot be ignored that the Methodist church frowns on gambling, unless Clinton is being selective about the tenets in her moral guide.

Ah, but the primaries are not done yet and who is to say what will prevail when all is said and done.  Clinton may have the backing of some of the industry’s bigwigs, but that would not stop her from changing spots later on.  The same can be said of Obama.  The only thing that can be done for now is to watch with interest and keep a few fingers crossed for luck.

By Samantha Williams 

With expending so much energy on demonizing online gambling, isn’t the United States government barking up the wrong tree?  There are certainly other issues that the government is better off dealing with, issues that are more worth its time and need to be dealt with in the first place.  Three issues actually come to mind: the current real estate bubble, the credit problem, and the recent decision of the World Trade Organization to legalize piracy of US software and media in Antigua and Barbados.

The issue of the real estate bubble is scary enough.  For no reason other than simple greed, bigwigs from Wall Street were able to lure people into buying homes they could not possibly afford by using low-interest loans – at least for the first few years of the loan repayment.  Naturally, the promise of being able to buy homes they could only dream of got people in bad credit standings to go for their dream homes that were simply beyond their means.  And then the honeymoon with the mortgage ends.  The dream home becomes a nightmare to pay off every month.

Isn’t that sheer cruelty borne out of greed on the part of the Wall Street bigwigs?  And what are the noble folks on Capitol Hill doing to deal with this issue?  Nothing much – they are too busy trying to demonize online gambling.

Probably related to the issue of the real estate bubble is the credit problem.  Consumer debt is at an all-time high in the last few years, and many Americans are struggling to pay off their credit card debts.  Debt settlement agencies are doing good business trying to negotiate ways out of creditor harassment for a good number of Americans.

Has the government already done something to intervene in this matter of crushing debt?  Not really, as it is too busy demonizing online gaming.

And now, here comes another problem in the form of that WTO ruling regarding the legalization of piracy of American software and media in Antigua and Barbados.  That can only mean one thing: the loss of millions of profit for American corporations.  This is another drain on the already flagging US economy and another brick on the yoke of the American people.

It is time to face reality.  Online gaming is not the enemy here – outmoded perceptions are.  Whatever moral grounds the government may have to object to online gambling, it is not something that it should impose by deeming online gambling illegal.  It is a basic right for a person to be able to decide what he or she wants for him/herself, and the choice to whether gamble online or not should be left to the individual.  The best thing that the government should do is to implement measures that will regulate online gambling, much what European countries like the United Kingdom is doing.

The fight against online gambling is a losing battle, and the US government is losing millions, if not billions of revenue in the battle.  Some of the revenue lost comes from sources not related to online gambling at all.  The US government is barking at the wrong tree.  There are other, more pressing issues it should spend time on.