Editorial: House rushes to judgment

Saturday, July 15, 2006 | 7:49 a.m.

In an effort to appease the religious right in time for the midterm elections, House Republicans this week took the lead in passing a bill that contradicts their oft-stated opposition to a "government knows best" philosophy.

The bill would ban Internet gambling, an activity in which millions of Americans participate and which generates worldwide revenue of an estimated $12 billion a year.

Our concern over the bill, which picked up bipartisan support as it passed 317-93, is that it recalls Prohibition, the era from 1920 to 1933 in which the 18th Amendment banned alcohol. Congress was forced to pass the 21st Amendment repealing Prohibition because the ban was impossible to enforce.

We fear the same for a federal ban on Internet gambling. Most online gambling sites are situated outside of the country, unaffected by U.S. law. They will remain accessible to the American public, which has proven over the past several years that it has an almost insatiable appetite for gambling, whether in casinos or via the Internet.

Enforcement of a ban on Internet poker, blackjack and other gambling games would have to involve federal snooping into people's electronic cash transfers and credit-card usage. It would also subject people guilty of nothing more than gambling in the privacy of their homes to felony charges and prison sentences, breaking up families in the process.

In our view, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., has the most sensible approach. She believes that Congress should stop being so reactionary and examine all aspects of the issue, including technology protecting against access by children. During the study, she says, Congress should keep an open mind about the possible advantages of Internet gambling if it were tightly regulated, and taxed, by the states.

Berkley has a point, as demonstrated by the very bill the House passed. The bill, part of the House Republican leaders' "American Values Agenda," allows state lotteries to continue selling tickets online, and it also allows online gambling to continue on state-regulated horse racing. If online gambling were really the central issue, the bill would not have included those exceptions.