URGENT: Frist Strikes Again. Call Senators NOW.

Posted Sep 29th 2006 6:55PM by Wil Wheaton
Filed under: Legal Issues

Bill Frist knows that his anti-poker bill will fail on its own merits, so he attempted to attach it to a defense spending bill. After his Senate colleagues rightly stymied his craven efforts, because they have nothing to do with defense, he is attempting to attach his amendment to a Port Security bill that is in front of the Senate tonight.

This is very real, very serious, and a very real threat to everyone who wants to have the freedom to play online poker from the privacy of their own homes.

From the Poker Player's Alliance:

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is attaching the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act to a bill that is expected to be approved by the Congress early this evening. PLEASE call your Senators today and tell them that they should oppose the Internet gambling bill being part of Port Security legislation.

If the Port Security bill passes, with the Internet gambling language included, your ability to enjoy poker online will be at serious risk.

Each member of the Poker Players Alliance has two Senators which are listed below (or click here). They need to hear from you RIGHT NOW! Let them know that you care about your rights to play poker.

Please Call!!! Tell your Senators to oppose attaching Internet gambling to Port Security!

If this bill is so important, and if online gaming presents such a threat to our nation, this bill should face a vote on its own merits. Please call your Senator right now, and tell them that online poker has nothing to do with port security, and Senator Frist's cynical effort to attach it should be stopped.

I've submitted this story to Netscape News, and if you could vote it up there for a lot of people to see, that will increase our chances of stopping this. There is also a similar story at Digg.

Reader Comments

(Page 1)

1. What a tool.

Bill Frist. How much money in fines did his company HCA pay for defrauding Medicare, Medicade, etc? Oh that's right, $1.7 billion, the largest in history.

Why can't we have legislation that doesn't have riders that have nothing to do with it?

Posted at 7:56PM on Sep 29th 2006 by Bill Reals

2. i'm so fed up with our government taking our freedom away and then talk like they're protecting it. it's embarrassing to see how our government works. what does port security have to do with internet gambling? why would lotteries and horse racing betting be excluded? stop making stupid laws based on who puts more money in your pocket!

it's probably too late, but i'm calling both my senators, and i'm calling frist too even though he's not my senator and won't listen to me.

Posted at 7:58PM on Sep 29th 2006 by caspernene

3. What an a-hole! What's the real demons in the U.S.? It can't be lying warmongering politicians. It can't be pornography. It can't stupid reality televisions shows. It can't be over-compensated executives. It can't be swindling insurance or HMO companies. It can't be companies that harm Americans with their products or byproducts. It can't be politicians putting special interest riders and pork in their bills. Oh, I know. It has to be online poker. Yeah, that makes sense now.

Posted at 11:49PM on Sep 29th 2006 by David

4. How's the weather up in Canada, eh?

Posted at 1:55AM on Sep 30th 2006 by dbirider

5. It's about time somebody did something about the scourge of gambling on the Net. What's all the hoo-ha? Have you gambling addicts heard of a little thing called a casino? You can always go to one if you want to throw money down a rat hole. What's amazing is that a Republican would offer legislation not designed to rip off the middle class and the poor. This would be the first Republican-sponsered socially responsible legislation since the time of Teddy Rossevelt.

Posted at 2:36PM on Sep 30th 2006 by Rod Walke

6. This will do nothing about "the scourge of gambling on the Net" as everyone in every other country can do it. All this will do is force people to go to mafia-controlled underground clubs. We're not all gambling addicts just like not everyone that looks at pr0n is a pr0n addict and not everyone that smokes a J is a drug addict. And not all betting has a negative expectation, so it's not always "throwing money down a rathole". I know plenty of people that make a good living and support their families betting online.

Posted at 9:25PM on Sep 30th 2006 by jim collins

7. Pissed-off Republican poker player here. Never thought it would come to this, and Im not rolling over for it. Swiss bank account, here i come!

Posted at 9:13PM on Oct 2nd 2006 by deadmoney00

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