Can the House win against Internet gambling?
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Can the House win against Internet gambling?
TEXT OF STORY
KAI RYSSDAL: The House is back in action with what Republicans call a “values agenda.” It’s designed to garner some election year favor. The House passed a bill today that would prohibit online gambling in the United States. Not exactly easy to enforce, but Marketplace’s Hillary Wicai explains how this bill tries to choke off the money.
HILLARY WICAI: The bill goes after the financing. It would make it illegal to use credit and debit cards and electronic money transfers to pay for Internet gambling.
That could take a serious bite out of the rapidly growing $12 billion a year worldwide industry.
Frank Fahrenkopf heads the American Gaming Association. That’s the trade association for the big commercial industry, not Internet sites. He says there are no Internet gambling sites in the US — they’re all located off shore, outside of US jurisdiction.
FRANK FAHRENKOPF: “You know prohibition of things people want to do have never worked in this country’s history. We think a better approach from our standpoint is the federal government ought to step back for a moment and let’s do a year and a half or two year study of Internet gambling.”
The House is expected to vote on the measure tomorrow.
In Washington, I’m Hillary Wicai for Marketplace.
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