McDermott Poker Tax Bill Introduced in Congress

In the latest online poker news, U.S. Congressman Jim McDermott introduced a bill this congressional session to tax poker online. The bill is called the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative. The SSIGI is considered a companion bill to the Barney Frank IGREA bill. McDermott's proposed law would set a 2% tax on all U.S. online poker bets.

The SSIGI would be enforced by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Online poker sites would have to be licensed by the FCEN.

Shelly Berkley is the co-sponsor of this initiative by Rep. McDermott. She is also sponsoring a bill which would fund a year long study of the online poker industry. This study is meant to settle concerns that online gambling lures youths into problem gambling.

WHO IS JIM McDERMOTT?

Jim McDermott has sat in Congress since 1989. He is known as one of the more liberal members of Congress, occupying a secure seat out of Washington State. In the 2006 election, McDermott won with nearly 80% of the vote.

McDermott is an advocate of univeral health care. He was a prominent member of the committee which investigated Newt Gingrich for ethics violations in 1998. At one time, opponents of the congressman called him "Baghdad Jim" McDermott, because of a 2002 trip to Baghdad in the run-up to the 2003 Iraqi War.

McDermott was ridiculed at the time for opposing the war. He said that President Bush was misleading the public about the reasons for war and went on to say we would not find Weapons of Mass Destruction in post-war Iraq. Few of McDermott's critics who called him names at the time have admitted that McDermott was right about the WMDs.

THE 2% TAX

I doubt online poker players are going to be too pleased with an added 2% tax on gambling revenues. Personally, I prefer the Robert Wexler solution, specifically the Wexler poker skill carveout which is also circulating in the Congress.

McDermott's bill is an example of tax-and-spend politics which liberals are often criticized for. But this is the problem once the government gets its hand into an issue; it never really takes its hand back out.

This is the price we have to pay for the Republicans pushing through the UIGEA late in the last session of the 109th Congress. One of the incentives to get Congress to act is to lure them with promises of billions in tax revenues. Advocates of this 2% tax say it will raise between $6 and $25 billion in its first five years.

McDermott Poker Tax Bill Introduced in Congress