Ahhhhh... death and taxes have nothing compared to the eerie consistency of Senator Jon Kyl, R-AZ. One thing we know is that he doesn't like online gambling. Another thing we know is that he won't let minor things like sensible judgement, open-minded perspective, or ethical legislative procedure get in the way of his mission to outlaw online gambling.
His single-minded crusade is getting reminiscent of those who still think Elvis is alive despite all of the facts. But facts, honest debate, and even common sense won't sway Kyl from his quest.
Just last week, he was writing a letter to Congress urging them not to overturn the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). In the letter, Kyl references a study by the Annenberg Public Policy Center which reported, among other things, that "weekly use of the Internet for gambling among college-age youth also declined, going from 5.8 percent in 2006 to 1.5 percent in 2007". He notes those facts with pride in the effect the UIGEA has had since it was passed into law.
OK, is that really a surprise? The UIGEA made it illegal for people to use credit cards to sign up for gambling sites, and most online gambling sites stopped accepting American customers after its passage. Of course usage dropped! That's like saying that sales at K-mart dropped significantly after they closed most of their stores.
The question is whether the "success" of the UIGEA was actually a good thing.
Do we want underage kids gambling online? Of course not. But the study doesn't break the numbers down between legal age limits. All we know is that 5.8% of college age youths were gambling online - and not all college age youths are underage. Since the younger students can't get credit cards anyway, we can only assume that the vast majority of those gamblers were actually old enough to have credit cards and pass the age verification that happens during the transaction process on every site. In other words, they were adults. And if that is the case, then why would Kyl consider it a success to be blocking adults from entertaining themselves by gambling online?
Furthermore, Kyl's letter doesn't mention that the study also notes how usage "among high school-aged male youth... going from 0 percent to 0.8 percent." Again, I would never claim that more high-school kids gambling is a good thing, but the fact that the number of high-school kids gambling online actually increased after the UIGEA passed is something that kinda indicates that maybe the UIGEA isn't working the way it should.
Nice work. The adults can't gamble anymore, but the underage kids are now a growth area. Personally, I'd like to know how these kids were getting signed up. It's already hard enough for adults to get accounts, so how are these kids doing it?
But Kyl isn't done yet. Earlier this week, he went public with his impatience in getting the UIGEA completely implemented. By the way, take the time to read the comments to get a hint at how popular the UIGEA and Mr. Kyl are with the readers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Anyway, it is activities like this that reveal just how out of touch Kyl is with, well, reality. He has been fighting this windmill so long that he has completely missed the progress that comes with time.
Fact: Oline gambling has evolved to be the safest form of gambling available with the most actual and potential protections to stop underage gamblers as well as protecting problem gamblers. Meanwhile, the UIGEA has been virtually universally slammed by groups such as the banking industry, the Federal Reserve, and even Kyl's fellow politicians are lining up to stop the implementation of what is ultimately nothing more than a horribly flawed bill that only became law due to some unethical actions by Bill Frist.
But I can also sympathize with Kyl. After all, this guy has been battling with the online gambling industry for 12 years now, and the UIGEA was the first and only significant victory he had over that stretch. We are talking about a major dry spell. And now he's looking at the possibility that Congress will overturn that one victory. He's getting desperate.
For some deeper insight into Jon Kyl's historic losing streak, check
out this little historical account I put together... I call it Senator Kyl's crusade against common sense.
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