Massachusetts House Defeats Online Gambling Bill - 03-24-08

March 24 - It's one up for the online gambling community and one down for another US politician trying to grab headlines by banning online gambling. What makes the defeat of the controversial Massachusetts bill that would have allowed three resort-style casinos and the criminalization of online gambling even more satisfying is the pure hypocrisy behind the bill.

The proposed bill was tabled by Governor Deval Patrick, who seemed comfortable to point out the evils of online gambling and in the same breath tried to justify the building of three casino reports in the state.

The bill was opposed due to moral grounds and unrealistic estimates of the proposed land casinos' benefits to the state. The provision to criminalize online gambling seems to be what really sunk the proposed bill, which can not be reviewed again until next year.

The House Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies voted 106-48 to against the bill. One Democratic Representative who decide to abstain was Robert L. Rice Jr., who was in disagreement with the provision to criminalize online gambling. "I didn't disagree with the concept; I disagreed with the specifics," said Rice.

Apparently Rice tried to get the provision removed but failed and it appears as if his abstention was important in defeating the bill. Some observers called the whole bill a "sham".

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