[Willie Bee]

Leach Bill HR 4411 Link

I've been trying to get some info from my congressman, Lamar Smith Texas Dist 21, regarding his position on the Leach Bill that has been discussed here in these forums before. Finally received a response yesterday and thought I'd share it with y'all.

Needless to say, I'm disappointed in his obvious PRO stance on the legislation, though he doesn't come out and say it in so many words. And I'm very disturbed by his 'we got to protect the children' reasoning. I wrote back to Congressman Smith and told him that I was all in favor of protecting children, mentioned there were more children (age 16 and under) sneaking ciggy's and liquor from their parents than there are kids wagering with their parents ************, asking Mr. Smith if Congress was also planning to stop selling tobacco and alcohol products to adults via ************. Pretty gutless and weenie excuse for supporting the bill, in my opinion. In other words, a typical talk-out-of-both-sides-of-your-mouth response by a politician.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Lamar Smith"
To:
Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2006 5:02 PM
Subject: internet gambling

Dear Mr. Bee,

Thank you for sharing your concerns about Internet gambling legislation. I appreciate knowing of your interest in this issue. We agree that we need to balance the goal of maintaining privacy with the goal of upholding law and order. But we may have to disagree on where to strike that balance.

America's children are those whom we must protect the most. And Internet gambling threatens young people across America. Every computer with an Internet connection is a casino that provides access to children and invites them to gamble. All that is required to play is a CC number and time, and our young people increasingly have both.

H.R. 4411, the "Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2005," prevents the use of certain payment instruments, ************ and fund transfers for unlawful Internet gambling. On November 18, 2005, this legislation was referred to the House Financial Services Committee. While I am not a member of this Committee, be assured that I will have your thoughts in mind as this legislation progresses through the House.

For more information on my work in Congress, please visit the 21st District's website, http://lamarsmith.house.gov.

Sincerely,
Lamar Smith
Member of Congress

Confirmation # 1232391

DISCLAIMER
The integrity of the text of this email cannot be guaranteed if it was not sent to you directly from my Congressional Email Account: Tx21.LS@housemail.house.gov. If you have any questions about the validity of this message, call Congressman Lamar Smith's Washington, DC office at: 202-225-4236.

[Dark Horse]

Children. lol Everybody with a CC is at least 18, as far as I know. If they cared about children, education in this country would be a lot better.

The reason the Reich wingers oppose gambling is that they don't want a large section of the population putting its money in a hidden offshore circuit. That is only good for Halliburton tax evasion schemes. They want to control the flow of money, because that is what controls power. The huge potential of the betting industry to form a subculture with money out of reach of the government is the real motivator behind these hollow attempts, if you ask me.

F*ck them!