John W. Kindt Off The Mark With Online Gambling Analysis

John W. Kindt has offered up blanket statements about online gambling that could have come from any anti-gambling group. Using land based casinos as his model, Kindt spoke of the dangers of gambling.

"Online gambling is called the crack cocaine of creating new addicted gamblers," said Kindt, "It places gambling at every school desk, every work desk, and in every living room. Does Barney Frank really want to entice people to click their mouse and lose their house?"

Representative Frank is preparing legislation that would overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Kindt has said that Frank is looking to overturn a law that took ten years of research to create.

"It's outrageous that he's (Frank) trying again. This law was the result of ten years of congressional hearings, where expert after expert warned of the dangers of gambling on the Internet," said Kindt.

Gaming expert Gordon Price, however, disputes several of Kindt's statements, and believes Kindt is simply trying to rally anti-gambling forces for when the online gambling debate hits Capitol Hill next week.

"If this law (UIGEA) was so well thought out, and took ten years to develop, then why did the legislature have to attach it at the last minute to a Bill that had nothing to do with gambling?," asked Price.

Price's actually went further in disputing Kindt's comments, countering that experts from various financial institutions that were called in last year to testify on the UIGEA, said that the law would cost millions of dollars to enforce, and even then they could not guarantee they had the capabilities to enforce the law.

Frank does want to overturn the UIGEA, but for different reasons than Kindt described. Frank understands the reality that others do not see, and that millions of people are currently engaging in unregulated online gambling.

"When he (Kindt) speaks of online gambling being accessible on every school desk, it shows his lack of knowledge on the issue," said Price, "Currently, children and gambling addicts have far more access to Internet gambling sites than they would have if the government stepped in and regulated the industry."

A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated that the US could raise over $50 billion over ten years if online gambling was legalized and taxed. That seems to dispute Kindt's claim that, "The revenue they would get is minuscule compared to the devastation it would bring to financial systems, stock markets, national security, and people's lives."

Currently, US based casino companies are doing everything possible to keep their businesses from going bankrupt. Most would welcome the idea of added revenue from online gambling, something that could actually boost their stock prices.

The economy is another area that Kindt believes would be damaged, and yet again, Price believes Kindt's words do not reflect reality.

"Thousands upon thousands of people in the US that are currently unemployed would gain employment if the online gambling industry was regulated," said Price, "Jobs and money that are going to off-shore online gaming operators, would stay in the US."

With gambling laws changing rapidly in states across the US, Price believes that people are no longer willing to sit back and allow fear to drive their decisions on issues such as gambling.

"It used to be that people would listen to these church groups and people like Kindt and immediately be fearful," said Price, "But that form of politics no longer exists as demonstrated by President Obama's victory in the last election. Millions of people have already made up their minds that they want to engage in online gambling, and it is time for the government to protect these people with regulations for the industry."

May 2, 2009
Posted By Larry Rutherford
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
Submit News!