Grover Norquist and Lawson Bader and other conservative advocates joined together to stop Congress from banning US based internet gambling associated with US online poker and casinos, through the “Restore America’s Wire Act”. These efforts were conducted using a coalition letter signed by many officials. The letter stated that the purpose of this bill was to remove the 10th amendments authority to regulate online gambling as states feel is necessary. The letter went on to discuss their hopes that RAWA would not become another instance where the government took over the states’ rights to make decisions they are capable of making. It was made clear in the letter that they were opposed to this legislation, since they feel it takes away rights that should be afforded to the state. They feel the states should be entrusted with regulating the gambling that goes on within their territories.
This letter was signed by many people including the president of Americans for Tax Reforms, Lawson, the president of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and nine other conservative libertarian leaders including: Larry Hart, John Tate, Andrew Langer, Steve Pociask, Gary Johnson, Katie McAuliffe, Tom Giovanetti, David Williams, Jeff Mazzella, and Andrew F. Quinlin. This shows that Norquist will be fully involved in this Congress session. Four congressional leaders were addressed in the letter: Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, A. Mitchell McConnell and Speaker John A. Beohner. John A Boehner was the one person this letter was directed at. The pressure was placed on him to ensure that the message had been received.
Since time was running out on the session, the GOP House leaders cancelled the hearing that was to start the process. They did not believe a bill could get through regular order on Judiciary Committee. The Republican House Leaders made the promise that they would get a bill done to Sheldon Adelson, the CEO of Las Vegas Sands. This enterprise generates in $14 billion per year. With Thanksgiving around the corner and the Christmas season fast approaching, there are a few business days left of the year.
In the coalition letter, the libertarian and conservative activists spoke based off of constitutional principles such as federalism. They believe it to be at stake, so this was heavily reflected in the letter. It discussed how the states have always had control in regulating the gambling that occurs. The explanation was provided that this is the reason why the coalition of organizations are standing up against this legislation. They believe the power should be left to the states to regulate gambling, since they can handle this duty.
The letter said that the S.2159 and H.R. 4301 are considered an assault on the system that is Federalist. New Jersey and Pennsylvania are thinking about coming up with resolutions to Congress to request that this legislation be voted against. With the end of the year fast approaching, the libertarians and conservatives have done their best in ensuring they have opposed the online gambling ban.