Poker Opposer Senator Jon Kyl Ends
Written by Roger S | Thursday, February 18th, 2010
Jon Kyl, the staunch anti online poker and gambling senator, who has become notorious in the past month for opposing the nomination of several Obama-appointed Treasury nominees, has finally capitulated.
Senator Kyl of Arizona, managed to anger many Americans, no matter what their opinion on internet gaming is, due to his linking of the Treasury nominees to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
It is widely believed that Kyl blocked the appointment of several key nominees, including Mary John Miller, Marisa Lago and Charles Collins, because he was mad at the Obama administration for postponing the implementation of the UIGEA.
The government delayed the UIGEA until June this year, although major efforts are underway to ensure that the bill is postponed once more, or – even better – done away with altogether.
Senator Kyl’s hold ended this week and the three key nominees had their appointments confirmed by the Senate.
It seems that Senator Kyl finally saw that he couldn’t hold the Treasury appointment process hostage for too long before the Obama administration started to lose patience.
Obama himself informed Mitch McConnel, Senate Minority Leader that he would be using a recess period in Congress to make appointments of nominees waiting for Senate approval. Kyl saw that his voice would have no bearing on the process and therefore, in a bid to save face, rushed to approve the appointments before he was bypassed by Mr. President himself.
Kyl was considered one of the chief supporters of the UIGEA and he undoubtedly felt the frustration of seeing one of the major victories of his political career disintegrate when the government stalled the Act’s implementation.
However, many feel that Kyl will need to get used to the idea that poker is very much part of the US landscape and it is only a matter of time that US players will be enjoying a legalized and regulated poker industry.
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· Written by Roger S · Filed Under Poker Gossip · Comments Off
