PPA Targets Republican Web Site
Written by Tom L | Sunday, August 17th, 2008
Probably in response to Republican Pete Sessions’ bill named the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Clarification and Implementation Act of 2008 (H.R. 6663), which the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has denounced, poker players have now resorted to more direct action.
More than a hundred and sixty poker players wrote scathing comments on the official message board of the Republican Platform Committee urging the Grand Old Party to protect the right of the individual to play poker on the Internet. The PPA wants more of its members to follow suit. The PPA is a nodal organization working to protect the interests of the poker industry and community in the United States. It has been in the forefront of the move against the UIGEA 2006.
Greg Raymer is one of the prominent poker players who have posted on the Republican Platform Committee’s message board. Raymer won the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2004. His comment reflects the mood of the poker players. He has written, “Is the Republican Party no longer the party of personal freedom and individual responsibility? Why has this party, that used to protect my rights, now become the party that wants to create a Nanny-state? Stay away from issues of personal liberty, except to remove old laws that restrict these liberties.”
The other messages reflect similar sentiments. Dean from Delaware has quoted from Republican President Ronald Reagan’s first presidential address of 1981. “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” He has made it very clear that his vote will depend on the stand taken on online poker by the Democrats and Republicans. He says that as an American he is embarrassed that certain influential persons in the Republican Party are imposing their morality on the whole country. He finally calls upon the Republican Party to permit Americans to play poker on the Internet by supporting the bill H.R. 5657, which seeks to overturn the UIGEA.
The concept of flooding the Republican Platform Committee’s message board with anti UIGEA messages has ironically come from the earlier message boards. In the run up to the elections of 2000 and 2004 the Republican message board was filled with anti Internet poker sentiment. In fact the 2004 platform said: “We support legislation prohibiting gambling over the Internet.” Now before the anti online poker lobby starts its initiative the PPA wants poker players to take over the message board. The procedure is simple. The players have to register at the web site of the platform at www.gopplatform2008.com. They will then receive an e-mail with a password. Using that password they have to log on to the platform, click “Submit Text Entry” and send their message.
The PPA offers another forum for contacting the legislative machinery ahead of the November elections. They are urging their members to go to www.pokerplayersalliance.org/letter, from where they can send a letter drafted by the PPA to their Senators and Congressmen with one click. The whole process would take less than a minute.
Check Out Other Related Articles
· Written by Tom L · Filed Under Poker News · Comments Off
