Posts Tagged ‘Poker’

Rich Muny

Poker Group Elated Following Overwhelmingly Positive Reception at CPAC

by Rich Muny

The Poker Players Alliance — a million-member strong grassroots organization that defends poker rights — cosponsored the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) for the second consecutive year.  Poker players, still reeling over past efforts to ban online and other forms of poker, have been actively reaching out to conservatives for support for their right to play, and cosponsorship of CPAC is part of this outreach effort.  They were pleased at their reception at this year’s event and feel support for their position within the broader conservative movement will continue to increase.

Displaying the confidence that a year of solid wins on Capitol Hill has earned them, the PPA went to CPAC ready to take on the dwindling minority who would ban poker as well as those who believe poker rights ought not be a conservative concern.  They came armed with handouts on why principled conservatives ought to oppose a big government prohibition on online poker, copies of pro-poker articles by George Will, Walter Williams, and Jacob Sullum, free t-shirts, and 2004 World Poker Champion Greg Raymer, who was on hand to sign autographs.

2004 World Poker Champion Greg Raymer at CPAC

2004 World Poker Champion Greg Raymer at CPAC

They also showed off the alliances they have with many within the conservative movement, including FreedomWorks, CPAC straw poll winner Rep. Ron Paul (video of Rep. Paul backing PPA’s position), and Americans for Tax Reform.

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Posted Feb 24th 2010 at 2:31 pm in Congress, Culture, Politics, Technology, Uncategorized | 92 Comments

Rich Muny

Senator Jon Kyl’s Bad Bet

by Rich Muny

On the heels of the huge GOP victory in the Massachusetts Senate race, Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) decided to stand up to the Obama administration with one of the strongest weapons at his disposal — he halted Senate votes on Treasury Department nominees.

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As there are a number of areas where the conservative movement takes issues with administration objectives, this is a target-rich environment.  A strong stand here could show America what the Republican Party stands for and what the party will fight for.  So, is Kyl standing up for improvements in the health care bill, reduced federal spending, or limits on federal power?  No, he is not.  Sadly, Sen. Kyl is wasting this powerful, one-shot weapon to register his dissatisfaction with the administration’s granting of a delay in implementing Internet poker and gaming-related financial regulations — a delay that was requested by his fellow Republicans.

The law for which Kyl pushed with so much vigor for so many years is fatally flawed.  Despite a decade of trying, beginning with his attempt to add a national online poker and gaming prohibition to the Crime Prevention Act of 1995, Kyl found himself unable to pass an online gaming prohibition through Congress.  In 2006, he settled for a law prohibiting money from going from U.S. financial transactions to sites offering “unlawful Internet gambling.” To move this through the Senate, Kyl had this bill tacked on to the must-pass SAFE Port Act in the middle of the night just as the 2006 Congressional term was coming to a close.  Thus, the Senate never even voted on this as a free-standing bill.

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Posted Jan 22nd 2010 at 5:22 pm in Congress, Culture, Justice/Legal, News, Politics, Tea Party, Technology, Uncategorized | 100 Comments

Rich Muny

Support for Big Government a Bad Bet for the GOP

by Rich Muny

Following a positive reception at the 2009 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the Poker Players Alliance, a million-member strong poker advocacy group, has announced plans to return to CPAC this year.  This announcement mirrors and complements the ongoing ascendancy of limited government conservatism within the conservative movement, and it bodes well for the future of conservatism.

From the late 1990s until 2006, the conservative movement was increasingly influenced by some who wished to expand the power of the then-GOP-controlled federal government.  These big government “conservatives” wanted to use the power of the federal government to address various social issues, including even stopping Americans from playing online poker.  Fortunately, rank-and-file conservatives have been working overtime since the 2006 and 2008 election losses to restore conservatism’s true soul — liberty, free markets, and less regulation — and this is leading to a resurgence in the movement.

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Posted Jan 4th 2010 at 3:03 pm in Congress, Culture, Economics, Politics | 155 Comments

Rich Muny

On the Anniversary of the Repeal of Prohibition, Let’s Not Repeat History

by Rich Muny

Prohibition, touted as “The Noble Experiment” in its time, criminalized the manufacturing, transportation, and sale of alcohol.  While the law did many things, there was one thing it could not accomplish.  It could not stop Americans from drinking.  As our country approaches the 76th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition, it’s time to look back and see how it impacts policymaking today.

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Some wish for America to try a new prohibition – with Internet poker the target of misguided efforts.  Laws like the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) have made Americans less free in their own homes, but have not stopped Americans from playing poker.  Like Prohibition, however, the policies of this prohibition are fundamentally flawed and pose a threat to safety.

Prohibition advocates of the early twentieth century sought to eliminate what they believed to be a negative attribute of society.  However, regardless of one’s view on alcohol consumption or Internet poker, it is undeniable that Americans will seek out ways to continue proscribed activities. It is unrealistic to expect otherwise.  As a nation founded on liberty, it’s in our DNA.

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Posted Dec 5th 2009 at 7:31 am in Congress, Culture, Featured Story, Politics | 99 Comments

Rich Muny

Did the GOP Really Lose Its Way?

by Rich Muny

Many conservative politicians, radio hosts, and pundits have repeatedly stated their shared belief that the Republican Party “lost its way” prior to the 2008 election.  In their minds, the entire conservative movement believed in limited government and low spending and was simply corrupted by absolute power.  They may be surprised to learn that this is not the case at all.  The fact that party leadership turned its back on limited government and low spending was entirely predictable.  In fact, it should have been expected.

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The conservative movement is not homogeneous.  Rather, the movement consists of fiscal conservatives, limited government conservatives, libertarians, pro-business conservatives, social conservatives, neoconservatives, and others.  When Democrats control government, these disparate conservative groups share many common goals. They all wish to reduce the power of government and they all wish to reduce taxes and spending.  As a result, they usually form a very effective alliance while out of power.

We saw this in 1993 and 1994.  Conservatives rallied around core beliefs like limited government, term limits, Second Amendment rights, and low taxes.  Party leadership rolled out the Contract with America to universal conservative acclaim.  Conservatives all rallied around statements like, “guns don’t kill people…people kill people,” while GOP candidates gladly signed term limit pledges and Grover Norquist’s Taxpayer Protection Pledge.  United, the GOP won control of the House and the Senate in 1994, and later won the presidency in 2000.

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Posted Nov 28th 2009 at 11:07 am in Culture, Politics | 139 Comments

Rich Muny

Raising on Aces and Eights: The GOP’s Bad Bet Against Online Poker

by Rich Muny

The GOP has historically been the party of limited government and personal responsibility.  President Ronald Reagan said it best in his frequent citations of Thomas Paine’s famous axiom – “the government governs best that governs least.” Unfortunately, the party moved away from the limited government conservatism of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan during the George W.  Bush Administration.  In fact, the 2008 Republican Party Platform regrettably went so far as to advocate a federal prohibition of online poker.

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Poker is not a crime, nor should it be.  Millions of Americans – including the president and many in Congress – play the game at their kitchen tables, on the Internet, and at their local card rooms.  It is a great American pastime.  During that failed era of big government “conservatism”, however, some big government social conservative groups like Focus on the Family wished to use the power of the federal government to stop Americans from playing online poker in their own homes.

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Posted Nov 10th 2009 at 8:17 am in Congress, Culture, Economics, Justice/Legal, Politics, Technology | 42 Comments