Ethics

Bad Arguments Against Online Gambling

By Ed Brayton

Barney Frank has submitted his bill to legalize and regulate online gambling and the opposition is trotting out some seriously irrational arguments against it.

Opponents are mobilizing to defeat the bill. They include social conservatives and professional and amateur sports organizations, which say more gambling opportunities could threaten the integrity of their competition.

"Illegal offshore Internet gambling sites are a criminal enterprise, and allowing them to operate unfettered in the United States would present a clear danger to our youth, who are subject to becoming addicted to gambling at an early age," Representative Spencer Bachus, Republican of Alabama and the ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee, said in a statement.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on May 31, 2009 (boomark / email).