Online Gambling Health Care Reform Amendement Retracted

September 28, 2009 | News Category: Gaming Law

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People concerned about the legalization of online gambling have likely heard of Rep. Barney Frank and his various proposals to make online gambling legal in the United States. Right now, he has a bill that would regulate the online gaming industry. Well, recently Senator Ron Wyden joined the fight. However, he quickly retreated after he received little heat, most notably from Senator Harry Reid.  

Senator Harry Reed is well known for being sort of a watchdog for the gambling industry.  His constituents expect him to protect the current U.S. laws concerning gambling. Though, this had an impact on Wyden’s withdrawal of the bill, that wasn’t the other reason, Wyden took it off the table.

Wyden reported that because of the contentious nature surrounding the legalization of online gambling, attempting to get an amendment passed that called for it, would likely stall the effort to introduce a public option for healthcare. He didn’t want to do that.  

Senator Ryan Ron Wyden’s amendment would have set aside and used monies from online gambling to help fund healthcare reform.  This was, he believed, a legitimate way to offset the cost and save tax payers dollars. One of the biggest arguments against healthcare reform is its cost.  Many opponents of healthcare reform and much of the new legislation put forth by President Barack Obama, for that matter, site the ballooning and seemingly out of control national debt as a reason to scrap it.

Wyden’s proposal or amendment was designed to quiet some of that talk and provide an alternative to pay for healthcare reform, hopefully giving it a better chance of passing.  Though Wyden has taken the amendment off of the table, his camp has stated that he will offer a similar option in the future. However, the next amendment would come at a time when it did not disrupt the progress already under way, of getting some sort of health care bill passed.

Healthcare reform in the United States has always been a contentious topic. Individuals are often either for it or against it. There never seems to be many people who hold a ‘middle of the road’ view. Not since Hillary Clinton has such an ambitious healthcare reform policy been introduced. Not surprisingly it has been met with significant resistance.  Local town hall meetings around the United States are evidence of that fact, becoming seemingly ideological battlegrounds.

Many people are against the healthcare reform that President Barak Obama has introduced largely because they believe it will be extremely expensive and further put this country in debt, though he denies that it will add to the national debt.   Attempting to address this and come up with an alternative way to fund the bill that would not add to the national debt, he came up with the use of online gambling revenue.  As stated above, he did retract that amendment but promises to reintroduce it at a future date.