With the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act going before the American Senate we may see the end of online gambling and sportsbook betting coming to an end in the
United States if this bill is passed. What the American Government fails to understand is that nobody should have control over the internet as this is a global way of commerce and communication for all citizens of the world.

The American Government should learn from the past that more that you restrict people from access to a product or service the more that people will seek to get these products or services illegally. The National Prohibition of Alcohol from 1920 to 1933 is proof of the failure of trying to restrict people from a product that they wanted.

If anything the National Prohibition of Alcohol promoted organized crime, made millionaires of those who ran liquor illegally into the United States and corrupted public officials who were part of the illegal operations. Please check the following article written by Mark Thornton who was the O. P. Alford III Assistant Professor of Economics at Auburn University in 1991. http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-157.html.

Concerning the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act and claims of money laundering by these offshore gambling establishments, I have been unable to find public information on this to substantiate this claim on the internet. If they are also worried about people becoming addicted to online gambling, how about those that have become addicted to playing at the land based casinos in the United States.

It is estimated that gambling in one form or another is an approximate seventy to seventy five billion dollar a year industry in the United States. Types of gambling includes bingo, lotteries and land based gambling established within the United States as well as online casinos and sportsbooks that operate outside of the United States.

The estimate for 2005 was that 12 billion dollars was gambled online either playing at online casinos, poker rooms or online sportsbooks. The United States Government claims this money has left the country, well that is not true.

As most online casinos, poker rooms and sportsbooks pay back approximately 96% of their take back to the players who gamble that means that $11,580,000,000 came back to the United States. That means that $480,000,000 was kept by the online casinos, poker rooms and sportsbooks.

As these online casinos, poker rooms and sportsbooks have affiliate webmasters to pay they also make payments to them. You will find that they average for the affiliate is 30% commission and that means $144,000,000 goes back into the United States and taxes are then collected on these monies.

What the American Government should be more concerned about is the pressing problems in their own country of an increasing national debt that is increasing by close to 2 billion dollars a day since September 30, 2005. With the National Debt close to 8.4 Trillion Dollars they better worry about getting their spending under control.

The National Debt per person in the United States is over $28,000 per person. Comparing this to their neighbors to the north in Canada they have a National Debt of 600 billion in Canadian Dollars or equivalent to 522 billion in American Dollars. Having a population of close to 33 million that means their debt per person is $15,820 in American Dollars and the National Debt in Canada has remained unchanged since 1999.

Another concern the American public should be more aware of also is the cost of the War in Iraq and how it is contributing to the ever growing National Debt of the American Government. With the cost of the War in Iraq over 295 billion and growing the cost has been $1,182 per person so far. This means that War in Iraq has so far contributed to 4.2% of the individual debt of $28,000 per person in the United States.

Please check the following three websites for more information on the above topics.

http://costofwar.com/index.html

http://havenworks.com/us/debt/

http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1

My personal feeling with the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act is the American Government should let people be responsible for their own actions not the government to take control of those actions. If people are allowed to gamble throughout the United States freely at land based casinos, bingo halls or purchasing lottery tickets then the same should be for online gambling and sportsbook betting.

By Barry Ohman
Barry Ohman is my name and I love to write for the internet. I have decided to make the internet my career at this point in life. My passion is now building websites. My latest two are http://www.best-online-casinos-and-gambling-bonuses.co.uk and http://www.online-gambling-and-sports-betting-advice.com