New organization joins fight against online gambling ban

Call in the reinforcements!

http://www.pokerlistings.com/new-organization-joins-fight-against-online-gambling-ban-9006


New organization joins fight against online gambling ban

2:26 PM, Tuesday, September 12, 2006 by PokerListings.com


Founded just six weeks ago, the National Right for Online Gambling (NROG) is joining the fight to stop an online gambling ban being passed in Congress. To begin its efforts, the non-profit organization is focused on informing and educating online gamblers and non-gamblers alike about H.R. 4411, the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act.


NROG was co-founded by Brian Jakusik, the executive director, and Jason Bailey, the director of development, who saw a need to make the public more aware of the online gambling ban in Congress.

"It scares me because there's only one side of the issue out there right now in the media," Jakusik said. "The politicians supporting the online gambling bill and the arrests of online gambling execs are what people are seeing in the media, so they're not getting a balanced view of the issue. Their only source of information is the media, so they believe what they see there."

Most of the organizations already working against the ban are working behind the scenes directly with the politicians to stop the bill. NROG plans to take a different direction by using the media to better educate the American public on the issue.

"So far the politicians and other government officials have been allowed to build a negative image of the online gambling industry without any opposition," Jakusik said. "Our goal is to educate the people on the other side of the issue as well, and we believe that most Americans will be opposed to an online gambling ban when they get all the information."

One of the messages the organization hopes to get across is that the online gambling companies are no different than any other legal, legitimate business. Jakusik said that someone gambling online at home is no differen than if they were to go to the corner store for a lotto ticket.

That's just one angle from which the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act appears to be hypocritical. It also makes exemptions for certain types of gambling. The bill would ban all forms of online gambling except for betting on horse racing and state-run lotteries.

The fight isn't necessarily just about the right for a person to choose to gamble online either. It's an issue of personal freedoms and what limits the government has in interfering with a someone's personal life.

"Once you give an inch, there's room for them to take more and more," Jakusik said. "If a person isn't allowed to gamble with their own money in their own home, the government will find other ways to infringe on freedom as well."

Jakusik said he thinks there would be a lot of people who've never played poker or gambled online who will step up to support the organization in their fight against the ban because it's a personal freedom issue.

What it will take to get to these people is to tackle the monumental task of educating the public on the issue.

"Right now there are people who actually play online who have no idea this is even going on," Bailey said.

The NROG is currently in the first phase of its plan to educate people and fight the online gambling ban. They're working on fundraising, making contacts in Washington D.C. and building membership of people who want to stay informed on the issue.

They're working with a company to conduct a nationwide poll in order to gather information like how many people know about the issue or how many even care. The poll information will help them craft a future media campaign so it's more effective and reaches more people.

"Mass media will be our big push," Bailey said. "There are thousands of outlets we could use tomorrow, but we want to do our research first and build our message and backing."

When the timing is right, the NROG will begin an intense awareness campaign, running in multiple outlets across all mediums. Key elements include target media campaigning in states that will influence opposing congressmen, as well as increasing the nationwide campaign, and focusing on "battleground" states.

"The mentality for organizations has been to sit back and be quiet. Nobody wants to stir things up in Washington on the issue," Bailey said. "We don't want to rile people up or create mass hysteria either. Right now we just want to educate people and build up a base of members for when we need them."

People can sign up for a free membership at www.saveonlinegaming.com. With their membership they'll receive updates on NROG's progress as well as the status of the online gambling bill in Congress.

If supporters would like to do more, they can make a donation to the NROG to help with its efforts. The organization also suggests that people can write or call their state's representatives to let them know they don't support an online gambling ban, or they can send a letter to the editor of their local newspaper expressing their opinion of the legislation.

Related articles: Online Gambling Ban Bill May Not See Senate Vote This Year and House Approves Bill to Stem Online Gambling.

Very impressive. I am finally cooling off. No, just thinking about this crazy bill and the hypocrisy involved gets my blood boiling. I will ponder this. But sounds like an outstanding gameplan.


Best Wishes...OF :howdy:

I thought you were dead? :howdy:

kwalder said:

NROG was co-founded by Brian Jakusik, the executive director, and Jason Bailey, the director of development, who saw a need to make the public more aware of the online gambling ban in Congress.

"It scares me because there's only one side of the issue out there right now in the media," Jakusik said. "The politicians supporting the online gambling bill and the arrests of online gambling execs are what people are seeing in the media, so they're not getting a balanced view of the issue. Their only source of information is the media, so they believe what they see there."

Most of the organizations already working against the ban are working behind the scenes directly with the politicians to stop the bill. NROG plans to take a different direction by using the media to better educate the American public on the issue.

"So far the politicians and other government officials have been allowed to build a negative image of the online gambling industry without any opposition," Jakusik said. "Our goal is to educate the people on the other side of the issue as well, and we believe that most Americans will be opposed to an online gambling ban when they get all the information."
..
The fight isn't necessarily just about the right for a person to choose to gamble online either. It's an issue of personal freedoms and what limits the government has in interfering with a someone's personal life.

"Once you give an inch, there's room for them to take more and more," Jakusik said. "If a person isn't allowed to gamble with their own money in their own home, the government will find other ways to infringe on freedom as well."

Jakusik said he thinks there would be a lot of people who've never played poker or gambled online who will step up to support the organization in their fight against the ban because it's a personal freedom issue.
What it will take to get to these people is to tackle the monumental task of educating the public on the issue.

"Right now there are people who actually play online who have no idea this is even going on," Bailey said.

The NROG is currently in the first phase of its plan to educate people and fight the online gambling ban. They're working on fundraising, making contacts in Washington D.C. and building membership of people who want to stay informed on the issue.

They're working with a company to conduct a nationwide poll in order to gather information like how many people know about the issue or how many even care. The poll information will help them craft a future media campaign so it's more effective and reaches more people.

Click to expand...

Jay C, as far as you know are these guys legit?

Brian Jakusik is the General Manager of WORC Radio (1310 Worcester) in MA?

Is this related to the site you endorse http://www.ivoteandigambleonline.com?

So far a few people did get of their butts and phoned their senators, but the battle is only just starting. Now they are on the record the anti gamlbing pricks are going to push hard to get this bill passed.

Let's repeat the Phone March every Tuesday for the next few weeks.

Phone March on Capitol Hill – Tuesday, September 12th - Help stop the gambling bills
http://forum2.therx.com/showthread.php?t=403661

Internet Gambling Phone March on Capitol Hill Today a Success
http://forum2.therx.com/showthread.php?t=404129


Official sign up site for free trip to the Capitol
http://forum2.therx.com/showthread.php?t=398043

I don't know anything about them.

this is GREAT..any help any can give is great

Just signed up and sent them some dough.

I encourage everyone to do the same.

Seems odd that they accept donations by PayPal, but not Neteller. If only PayPal knew what they were doing they'd probably ban them.

If they took Neteller, I'd make a donation. Too bad.

Nice to see though.

vanzack said:

Just signed up and sent them some dough.

I encourage everyone to do the same.

Click to expand...

vanny did you do the Life member for 500$ or Distingished life member for 1000$

Here is their new member welcome information. I'm impressed with their well-organzied, strategic approach (http://www.saveonlinegaming.com/NROGMARKETING.ppt ).

It would be nice to hear from anyone who can vouch for these guys before we start sending them donations though.



Dear NROG Member,


Thank you for taking the time to join The National Right for Online Gaming. We truly appreciate all the efforts you're making to support this very important cause. Wether you made a cash donation or not, your active support is sure to help us protect this basic right we have as Americans. Over the course of the last several weeks we have been fortunate enough to partner with some of the biggest organizations in the online gaming industry. One of our most important allies is the Poker Players Alliance of which you may already be familiar. We are incredibly proud of what the PPA has been able to accomplish in the last year and laud them for their continued fight on behalf of the poker players of this great nation. While we are working side by side with the PPA and numerous others we would like to briefly explain how NROG differs and why it is that we need your additional support.


NROG is a 501(c)4 Non-Profit Organization that is ready to fight on your behalf to defeat any and all legislation aimed at banning online gaming. We represent the ENTIRE scope of the online gaming industry, not just one sector. We are fully committed to protecting the rights of those who chose to play poker, slot machines, roulette, sports betting, state lotteries, dog racing, and every other form of current and future online gaming. Our message is simple. We will fight the United States Congress until they do what several great nations, including Great Britain, have already done and that is to Tax, Regulate and Monitor the online gaming industry. HR-4411 now sits before the U.S. Senate and could very well be brought up for vote leading into the fall elections. At NROG we don't believe it's time to cross our fingers and hope Congress doesn't act. We feel strongly that now is the time to begin building an educated army so when the vote comes, be it next month or next year, we will have hundreds of thousands of troops ready and willing to march into battle. We will stand up with one, loud voice and win this fight once and for all.


In the coming weeks you will notice a massive rollout of the NROG Strategic Plan to prepare for any battle Congress may decide to force upon us. Our steps include:


We will use every form of media to educate all Americans (radio, television, print, billboards, and online). Our marketing plan totals over $2 Million in the next three months.

We will request everyone join our fight the way you have by becoming registered members of the National Right for Online Gaming.
We will conduct a series of highly strategic national polling campaigns to help keep our message focused.

We will team up with proactive agencies in Washington DC and around the nation who want to fight this fight head on.

We will continue to build an incredibly educated army with projections of more than 200,000 members before the end of this year alone.

We will use highly targeted media campaigns to reach into swing states.
We will launch a series of nationally televised poker tournaments aimed at driving up membership and overall awareness.

And finally, when the time is right, we will take our entire army and our massive media assault right to the politician's doorstep in Washington DC.


We are the National Right For Online Gaming and we are committing ourselves to you today. We will be proactive in our fight. We will not sit back and trust Congress. We will press our agenda and fight to the end until all forms of online gaming are recognized as a legal right granted to all citizens. Thank you again for joining our organization. We ask for any and all support you can give. Lets stand up together as responsible Americans and once and for all let our voices be heard.


Sincerely Yours,


Brian Jakusik
Executive Director


Jay R. Bailey
Director of Development

Dante said:

vanny did you do the Life member for 500$ or Distingished life member for 1000$

Click to expand...

To be honest, I sent them a hundred bucks.

If I find out that they are legit and intentions are in the right place, I will do more.

I already sent them an email asking a few things. One of them is that when you send them the paypal for "membership" there is nothing after that to give the information you would think they needed to be a member.

If I sent 100 bucks to some bum in Nigeria congrats to them. I am awaiting an email to see what info I can get out of it.

:toast:

damn vanny ALL i NEEDED was site like that I would have gotten a hunny from you? ;o)

Just kidding man I think ill send them a saw buck and become a associate member also

Excellent

Good thing people in therx.com is getting together to fight this moronic move by the US goverment.

Most people should realize how their rights are being thrown down the garbage.

Is not a matter of fighting the ban, is a matter to stop this guys doing whatever they want whenever they want.

It would be amazing to have a couple of banks on our side allowing transfers and credit card transactions. They wouldn't be breaking any law, only that they wouldn't be kissing Uncle Sam's ass...

Thank You From Nrog!!

Hello guys and gals. I'd like to thank Kwalder for getting the word out and all of you for your interest and support. NROG is fairly new but we pledge to be a very open and proactive organization. Our commitment is to you and we will do our very best to make you proud of our efforts. I wanted to give you a little more information (pardon me for what may be a lengthy posting) so that you may feel more comfortable with our efforts.

Our Background- I saw the posting about Brian. Great detective work (I love the internet!) Brian and I met years ago while running WORC radio in Worcester, MA. He has been in the radio field for more than 15 years, I for close to 13. In 2002 we both departed the local radio sector and formed a nationwide radio network that fast became the largest ".com" cleared network for online gaming rooms to advertise with. No other major networks in the country would allow their ads...we did! We have been intimately involved in this business now for years so when the battle became more fierce we decided it was time we stand up for the clients we have had and the great people that we have met while playing online ourselves.

I'm not going to sugar coat anything. We have much to protect ourselves. Our ultimate goal is to not only defeat this legislation but to finally get it legalized, taxed and regulated so that we can go back to our real jobs! I don’t want to be working at a non-profit fighting these animals on Capital Hill forever! There is nothing glamorous and quite frankly I cant stand some of these guys! Another interesting fact that I hope you will all enjoy is that Brian and I have been running this organization and will continue to do so until we succeed without taking one cent for ourselves. We do not pull a salary and do not intend to. We need every dollar that we bring in to fund our massive efforts.

Hopefully you've had a chance to check out the website, which is still a work in progress, www.saveonlinegaming.com. On it you will find a PowerPoint that is our actual strategic plan. Obviously we are modifying as we go to keep up with the changing environment but we want you all to see it and comment on it. We intend to invest over $2M in the next few months to get our message out. This approach may be in direct contrast to what has been done by other lobbying efforts but we feel this fight is getting too one-sided. We do not intend to get the public outraged and order them to grab their pitchforks and torches to storm Washington. What we want to do is educate and activate. We have to build a solid army that, when needed, can make a REAL statement to the politicians.

We have been fortunate enough to gain some pretty great support from inside the industry to help fund this fight but obviously we are looking for all the help we can get. As with any non-profit donation are key!

There are just a few other things I want to let you know about that I think will excite you and show you how different we intend to be in this fight. We have begun working on what will be a massive, nationally televised poker tournament. We are getting partner sites right now to host online tourneys with cash prizes and prizes of entry into the final tournament. The dollar amount is still a little in the air but we intend to have a minimum grand prize of $1M. We'll keep you posted when we're ready to launch. We are also working on some very creative membership packages that will be retroactive for donors so if you sign up today we promise to get you in on the action! This includes cool merchandise but more interesting will be ups to other poker rooms. What you donate to NROG will be given to you as a credit on their site! We're out of the box thinkers. We’re non-traditional marketing guys who feel we can make a huge impact and finally put this issue to rest!

So there it is in a nutshell. We're pledging our commitment to you. We will work hard, fight hard and be as open and honest with you about our progress as you would expect. By the way...we are setting up Neteller and other payment methods. PayPal was a nice easy way to get things online and because of our non-profit status they didn't give us a hard time. Keep checking the site for updates and revisions. Our NROG.org site will be up shortly too. There you'll be able to get much more information on the fight.

So guys, gals, everybody...thanks so much for getting the word out. We really do appreciate you and all of your support. You will make this job much easier for us and we thank you!

Brian and I have pledged to make ourselves available to all of you if you would like to email us questions or concerns. Please don’t hesitate to email info@nrog.org and they'll pass the message along to us so we can respond.

Thanks again!

Jay Bailey
Director of Development
National Right For Online Gaming
a 501(c)4 Non-Profit Organization

First u guys need to drop paypal

this bill should be called The Paypal Horse and Lottery Legalization Act of 2006

Paypal settled with the feds years ago because they were acused of violating the patriot act by sending/transfering money for illegal purposes (gambling)

google it, you'll see

with these carvouts they can now restart that part of their business that was shut down by the patriot act.

this gambling bill isn't about stopping funding, the patriot act already does that... this bill is about legalizing (no gray areas) horses and lottery on the internet.

Ebay which owns paypal has thrown it's full support behind this bill, by having your donors use paypal it's like a small % of every donation going to the people that want this bill passed.

Is there anyway NETELLER can get involved with this.

If so, the money received would be ten-fold at least.

<TABLE cellPadding=6 width=650 border=0 valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=650>[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]eBay Inc
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]PAC Contributions to Federal Candidates
2006 Cycle [/FONT][/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width="50%"><TABLE cellPadding=2 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Arial,]House Candidate [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Arial,]Total Contribs [/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Ackerman, Gary (D-NY) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$2,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Bass, Charles (R-NH) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Boucher, Rick (D-VA) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Cannon, Chris (R-UT) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$3,564
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Chabot, Steve (R-OH) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Cooper, Jim (D-TN) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Crowley, Joseph (D-NY) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Cubin, Barbara (R-WY) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]($500)
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]DeLay, Tom (R-TX) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Dreier, David (R-CA) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$2,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Eshoo, Anna (D-CA) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Feeney, Tom (R-FL) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$500
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Fortenberry, Jeffrey Lane (R-NE) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Goodlatte, Bob (R-VA) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$3,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Hart, Melissa (R-PA) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$2,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Hastert, Dennis (R-IL) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$3,500
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Lofgren, Zoe (D-CA) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$2,153
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Manzullo, Don (R-IL) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Matheson, Jim (D-UT) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,500
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Northup, Anne M (R-KY) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$2,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Pickering, Charles "Chip" Jr (R-MS) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$2,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Pitts, Joe (R-PA) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Smith, Adam (D-WA) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Terry, Lee (R-NE) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$2,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Towns, Edolphus (D-NY) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Upton, Fred (R-MI) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Walden, Greg (R-OR) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$500
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Arial,]Total to Democratic House Candidates: [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Arial,]$11,653 [/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Arial,]Total to Republican House Candidates: [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Arial,]$27,564 [/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


</TD><TD vAlign=top width="50%"><TABLE cellPadding=2 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Arial,]Senate Candidate [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Arial,]Total Contribs [/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Bayh, Evan (D-IN) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$500
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Bingaman, Jeff (D-NM) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Burns, Conrad (R-MT) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$3,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Cornyn, John (R-TX) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]DeMint, James W (R-SC) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Ensign, John (R-NV) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$2,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Feinstein, Dianne (D-CA) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$3,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Hagel, Chuck (R-NE) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Hatch, Orrin G (R-UT) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Hutchison, Kay Bailey (R-TX) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Kyl, Jon (R-AZ) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$2,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Leahy, Patrick (D-VT) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Lott, Trent (R-MS) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Nelson, Ben (D-NE) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$3,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Pryor, Mark (D-AR) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Specter, Arlen (R-PA) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD>[FONT=Arial,]Talent, James M (R-MO) [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right>[FONT=Arial,]$1,000
[/FONT]
</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Arial,]Total to Democratic Senate Candidates: [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Arial,]$9,500 [/FONT]</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Arial,]Total to Republican Senate Candidates: [/FONT]</TD><TD align=right bgColor=#cccccc>[FONT=Arial,]$15,000 [/FONT]</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Based on data released by the FEC on Monday, August 07, 2006. Figures in parentheses denote negative numbers, and may indicate returned contributions or bounced checks.

Jay,

Thanks for the informative introduction. A lot of us have been looking for an organziation which will effectively express our strong disapproval of HR 4411 and HR4777 to Congress.

One issue you may want to discuss is whether you are committed to lobby on behalf of all online gambling interests. Many believe that online poker organizations would happily throw us under the bus if they could carve-out their form of gambling from these bills.

What is NROG's position?

buddyboy said:

First u guys need to drop paypal

this bill should be called The Paypal Horse and Lottery Legalization Act of 2006

Paypal settled with the feds years ago because they were acused of violating the patriot act by sending/transfering money for illegal purposes (gambling)

google it, you'll see

with these carvouts they can now restart that part of their business that was shut down by the patriot act.

this gambling bill isn't about stopping funding, the patriot act already does that... this bill is about legalizing (no gray areas) horses and lottery on the internet.

Ebay which owns paypal has thrown it's full support behind this bill, by having your donors use paypal it's like a small % of every donation going to the people that want this bill passed.

Click to expand...

Yep. If they dump PayPal and accept Neteller and I will pledge $100.

Followup

To answer your question Kwalder, NROG is indeed standing up for ALL forms of online gambling. This is about our basic rights as citizens. What's next? Is Uncle Sam going to tell us we must eat our peas and carrots and go to bed by nine? We are thrilled with the work that the PPA and others have put into this cause so far and we are proud to have their support in our efforts. We do want it to be very clear that we do not support a poker only exclusion at this stage. We will fight to leagalize, tax and regulate the entire industry.

As far as the Neteller issue swirling around. Its not as easy as one would think. Neteller accounts take up to a month to setup and in our case we are fighting hard to even get one. They do not do business with sites like ours so they have been making it difficult to get it up and running. Our hope was since this is an issue near and dear to their pocketbooks too that they might help us fast track an account. In the meantime Congress is pressing on so we needed to get some form of payment processor up and running. Paypal, even though they are supporting legislation, has been willing to let us proceed so for the short term, they are our answer. I hope you can all support us in any way you can....join, donate, spread the word....anything will help.

Thanks Again!

Jay Bailey