Two things worth mentioning on the internet gambling issue.
First, here's a Congressional proposal to legalize, regulate and tax internet gambling:
US Congressman Jim McDermott has introduced web gambling legislation that would collect billions of dollars in new revenues.
A recent analysis by PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates the revenues at between $8.7bn and $42.8bn over 10 years.
The Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act 2008 would ensure that taxes are collected on regulated internet gambling activities, strengthening the provisions of an earlier version of the bill introduced last year.
Second, Professor Nelson Rose speculates about which Presidential candidate would be most likely to permit internet gambling:
When the Democrats took control of the Senate, Harry Reid, senator from Nevada, became majority leader. So, land-based casinos, which want a study and law allowing them to operate internet casinos, can get those, if the President is a Democrat. If John McCain wins, Republicans will take over the Senate, so nothing will change. Insiders know that if Hillary Clinton is the nominee, Democrats will lose the Senate, even if she wins the presidency. There will then be four years of deadlock.
Assuming Barack Obama is nominated and wins, the Democrats will keep control of Congress and there will be a change in the federal law. It might come as early as 2009. More likely, it won't be until 2010, or even later. For political cover, there could be an objective, scientific study done first, that proves that internet gambling can be kept safe from hackers, protecting the "vulnerables" (children and compulsive gamblers), and that states that don't want to allow can be blocked.
Is that right that Obama would be most likely to legalize internet gambling? I can see that there is an argument that a Clinton Presidency would mean a Republican Congress, as Professor Rose argues, but that seems far from definite. I looked for explicit statements by the candidates on internet gambling, but couldn't find anything.
ADDED: I found one thing in the Las Vegas Sun, setting out the candidates' views on internet gambling:
Clinton: Supports the industry’s position: to study Internet gambling to see whether it can be fairly regulated so that individuals can safely participate in it and American businesses can compete in the international market.
...
Obama: Worries that the Internet is “a Wild West of illegal activity”; supports a study of Internet gambling and supports regulation to address the worst abuses.
