Do you think It is legal for George Bush to pass a law prohibiting people form gamblin in their own homes?

Question

Isn't it a person's own business if he/she want to gamble online?

Answer 1

No. I think our forefathers are rolling in there graves at the shocking and disappointing way this administration has handled this country.

"That one can give up essential liberty to obtain little temporary safety deserve liberty nor safety"
-----Ben Franklin

This is just one more way for them to rob us of our rights. They have rapped us when it comes to our rights. The patriot act alone is a tragic legislation. Abandoning habeas corpus is absolutely absurd!
Stand up for your rights! Take them back!

Answer 2

Your question just plain sucks on so many levels it isn't funny.

What wasn't addressed and what I think you were asking is:

"Do you think the law that targets financial institution from preventing certain transactions to go through relating to gambling to pass is constitutional"?

1- Gambling is not a fundamental right so it would be dealt with the lowest level of scrutiny test- Rational basis. Which means does the government have a rational basis for this law that the law will achieve. Basically it will lose few challenges win when the rational basis is applied. If however there are some issues that come up in the application and enforcement of the law (I have not read the text of it) then maybe there is something that would provide a tougher analysis like Intermediate Scrutiny or Strict Scrutiny. I doubt that either would apply regardless.

2- The common sense argument is that this is nothing new, the government in different states has made gambling illegal for a very long time, this is just an update to cope with new technologies.

Answer 3

You immediately blame the President. The President of the United States has absolutely NO power to pass legislation. Look it up in the US Constitution. The courts interpret, the executive (the President) enforces, the Congress enacts.

Allow me to raise another point. If what a person does in their own home is no one else’s business then what if I decide to kill my kids. I would do this in my on home of course. Or perhaps I could convince some sweet young thing to enter under her own power and keep her as a sex slave. I would do this in my on home of course. Two extreme examples only to illustrate that the outside would can and does have an interest in things you might not expect.

If you completely ignore the matter of taxation, American society still has an interest in this issue. My tax dollars are already being used to support those who will not work to support themselves or their families. Now you would have me support some gambling cartel set up in a third world country where anything goes.

No, as far as I am concerned the intent of this law is fine. How, or perhaps whether or not, it is enforced will determine whether it is a good law or not.

And you should be told if you don't already know, there are literally thousands of laws in this country that are not enforced. The law abiding public is simply expected to obey them and the criminal is allowed to profit from the non-enforcement. If you don't believe it, ask a California Highway Patrol Officer about general traffic law enforcement on the state's freeways or look into civilian radio transmitter laws. Then to see the sword cut the other way, look at the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution. You will note the last word is infringed.

So this like many other laws will be hated by some, loved by some, ignored by some while some will be completely ambivalent.

Answer 4

The president cannot pass a law. That is up to Congress. I do not believe that there is a law against on line gambling. Congress is studying to see if there should be such a law. Some legitimate concerns about on line gambling. (1) you give your bank acct or credit card info to these sites, how are you sure that the site you give it to is legitimate or just a scam to rip you off. (2) How does the gambling concern know for sure, you are who you say you are and that the bank acct or credit card is really yours. (3) If someone does use your accts for their gambling how are you going to know for a while and when you know how are you going to get your money back. I believe that after the concerns are taken care of, people will be allowed to gamble on line. But I think if I were going to use any of my accts for anything off the internet, I would make sure that I use something like "pay pal" and I would make sure the "pay pal" or whatever called me before paying a large gambling debt to make sure that I made this debt.

Answer 5

I would almost bet money that you support a non-smoking ban...

Gambling in the United States is taxed and monitored except where it comes to on-line gambling.

Would you be in favor of gambling sites, domestic and abroad, sending information to the United States government about your gambling habits/debts?

I'm not saying I agree with it, but why is one OK and not the other? Cigarettes are legal everywhere. Gambling is only legal in certain venues and those are taxed. You're complaining about a system that circumvents tax laws- how does that make you any better than the businesses you claim should pay taxes on money they invest outside the tax structure?

Blame Bush...how ridiculous.

If you don't see a difference, man, I feel for you...

Answer 6

Ask those people, who don't have a home to gamble from because they lost their home to gambling. I know a couple of people, who were addicted to gambling and did just that !!! One of the guys lost their home, wife, children, bank account and life (committed suicide) ! The IRS loses $ , the tax-payer doesn't receive government services and the service providers of the on-line gambling, get greedily wealthy !!! The family suffers, divorces mount and we all pay down the road. Laws are enacted because people don't have the guts and brains to say "no" to the things which are not good for them, as a nation.
Ever met a gambling addict who always wins? Typically, they are in debt up to their "eyeballs" and are desperate to acquire money to support their consuming habit. - even if it "translates" into taking things belonging to others! I play the slots once in a long while but keep things in balance. Balance has to be learned.

Answer 7

I third Mr. Klaw and Elayne's answers. Regardless of the legality of the passage of such laws, it's ridiculous that a party which supports a small government has done many things to enlarge the government and get it involved in our every day lives.

Part of the reason for banning internet gambling is that many people are maxing out their credit cards and driving themselves very much in debt. It has less to do with getting around gambling laws because gambling is controlled by the states, not the federal government.

Congress feels the need to "protect" us. If people have the drive to break themselves in such a form, they'll find another way to do it. There are many more people who just do it for fun and it's none of the government's business.

In response to redreverser, it has little to do with funds leaving the United States. If that were the case, they would instead try to get the states to okay gambling so that the funds stay here.

Answer 8

all of you people that are so PlSSed at Bush are coming across terribly ignorant here... go back to high school and learn something from civics, or government or whatever it was called at your school... the office of the President is in the executive branch of the government. The President is not empowered to make laws... he can't even propose a law... that all comes from the legislative branch of the government which is the House and the Senate... those two bodies must each have a majority in agreement to propose a new law... at THAT point it is the President's prerogative to sign it or veto it....

As for the question of legality, yes it is 100% legal even if it isn't 100% enforceable...

Lesson over

Answer 9

I don't think that GWB , congress or the Supreme Court has done anything legal or ethical since the 2000 theft of an election. He wants to send our men and women to fight for oil when he wouldn't even show up for Guard duty.He was a drunk and a drug addict yet he thinks that he is Gods right hand man. Oh, I could go on and on about the corruption of that weasel

When will the people in the 'Land of the free' get to make some decisions on their own? If some are worried about the miss use of credit cards or bank accounts, then don't give your information out on line. It is time that we all take responsibility for our own actions. We are guaranteed as a right the pursuit of happiness yet the government acts as if it has to protect us all from our own humanity. It is getting more and more like the movie 'Demolition Man'. If you don't know what I am talking about then you should really go rent that movie right NOW.

Answer 10

No, it shouldn't be legal for Congress to pass such a law.

I saw some head of the Gamblers Association or something on CSPAN the other night who said they are going to challenge the law.

I don't gamble on the internet, but you're right that it should be none of their business what a person does in their own home.
However, they realized they have a new tax base there, so that's why they passed the law.

Answer 11

I am a shareholder in a company that offered online gambling in the USA to US citizens (as well as citizens from the rest of the world). YES, Bush DID outlaw this gambling for US citizens when he signed the Bill - the Bill which by the way was about ho,meland security and this gambling bit was just "piggy-backed" onto it.

As a Brit, i think what George Bush is doiung is disgusting, but furthermore, it just makes me chuckle when i read some of the other answers on here. It seems obvious that most US ciotizens dont have a clue as to exactly how George Bush is manipulating their lives. The biggest joke is as to how the US under Bush can still call themselves the country of fredom and democracy.

Im sure glad im a Brit and not american.