The Family Research Council comes out against Ron Paul!!

HR 5767 gained 10 new cosponsors yesterday! Details are at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi...

Sponsor: Barney Frank

Cosponsors:

Rep Ackerman, Gary L. [NY-5] - 4/24/2008
Rep Berkley, Shelley [NV-1] - 4/24/2008
Rep Clay, Wm. Lacy [MO-1] - 4/24/2008
Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51] - 4/24/2008
Rep Gutierrez, Luis V. [IL-4] - 4/24/2008
Rep Honda, Michael M. [CA-15] - 4/24/2008
Rep King, Peter T. [NY-3] - 4/24/2008
Rep McGovern, James P. [MA-3] - 4/24/2008
Rep Moran, James P. [VA-8] - 4/24/2008
Rep Paul, Ron [TX-14] - 4/10/2008
Rep Wexler, Robert [FL-19] - 4/24/2008

The PPA member letter to Congress, at www.pokerplayersalliance.... , is definitely being read -- and we're being heard. I hope we'll all continue to post this info on blogs and other media to get folks to send this letter to Congress. When Ron Paul cosponsors legislation, he deserved thousands of letters of support from America's freedom lovers.

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Support the Ron Paul UIGEA moratorium at:
www.pokerplayersalliance....

as long as it is their freedom they are talking about but no one else's. I am a Christian and don't believe in a lot of the things that are legal in a free country but it is a free country and it is constitutional, so I leave it alone. It is none of my business and it is none of the federal government's business, either.
I would send this petition to my congressman and senator but they are both criminals. One is John McCain and the other is Rick Renzi. Rick Renzi is being investigated right now and not doing his job. So, essentially, I have absolutely no representation right now. Pretty sad.

Healthnut4freedom

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths." Proverbs 3:5,6

C'mon now. Let's stand up for HR 5767 at www.pokerplayersalliance.... . Is it a rEVOLution if we're not getting thousands of letters to Congress in support of bills Ron Paul cosponsors? Let's make sure Congress fears days that Rep. Paul introduces legislation, knowing they will be deluged with pro-freedom constituent letters, emails, and phone calls.

Once you've sent this letter, your own letter, or made a phone call to Congress, please reply with "sent" or "called". Thanks. :-)

I am an independent, fundamental Baptist Preacher who is unashamedly for truth, for the King James Bible, for Jesus Christ, for the Constitution and therefore, for Ron Paul. I am against gambling, sodomy, smoking, the liquor traffic, drugs, adultery (regardless of consent), Hollywood, professional sports, public education, and many other evils.

However, as a patriot, and a constitutionalist, with the ability to read, I find no authority in the constitution for laws against or laws regulating, ON THE FEDERAL LEVEL ,such personal choices as the ones listed above.

As one of our founders said, our republican form of government was designed for a moral people, it was not designed for any other. Moral people do not need government breathing down their back making them do what is "right." Moral people know what is right, based on God's Word.
The problem with America is the same problem Adam and Eve had in the garden of Eden - bad choices!

America was founded by men who had seen what religious authority could turn into. The Catholic "church" used its majority position (democracy is mob rule) to exercise its authority. Because it was a corrupt religious institution (who knew), it began to put people to death for merely not attending mass or for not believing that the bread and wine were turned into the very fhesh and blood of Jesus who was reported to have ascended into heaven!

Without going into the religious arguments involved in this illustration, we should learn from our founding fathers and trust an all-knowing God who orchestrated and blessed the efforts of God-fearing men and provided us with a country where God-given rights and personal freedom were foundational. If you choose to use your freedom to do that which is detrimental to your health or safety, that is your choice and your freedom to do so. The intelligent and wise will prosper and the stupid and fools will not. It is the job of each of us and of churches and government to use our INFLUENCE to help others, but never force. Force should be reserved for those who violate the freedoms and rights of others.

So you see, ROn Paul is right on this issue, as much as I hate gambling and its ill-effects on others.

Let's support this. The rEVOLution has expanded to Congress!

Go to www.pokerplayersalliance.... and take 60 seconds to back the Ron Paul UIGEA moratorium! Then, please reply with "sent" to encourage other here to have Dr. Paul's back.

Here's a new letter from Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA), Ron Paul (R-TX), Peter King (R-NY), and Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) to the Treasury Dept (a similar one went to the Federal Reserve). The letters are at www.house.gov/apps/list/p... and http://www.house.gov/apps... :

April 21, 2008

The Honorable Henry M. Paulson, Jr.
Secretary
U.S. Department of the Treasury
1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20220

Dear Mr. Secretary:

As you know, on Wednesday, April 2, the Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Domestic and International and Monetary Policy held a hearing entitled, “Proposed UIGEA Regulations: Burden Without Benefit?” to examine the regulations issued last year by your agency and the Federal Reserve on the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). At that hearing, the testimony of your representatives and the industry made it clear that the regulations are unworkable. Subsequently, we introduced new legislation, H.R. 5767, which would prohibit their implementation.

The regulations, like the underlying legislation, fail to define the term “unlawful internet gambling,” leaving it to each financial institution to reconcile conflicting state and federal laws, court decisions and inconsistent Department of Justice interpretations, when determining whether to process a transaction. Furthermore, some of the information needed to make this determination would likely be unavailable to banks, because customers or financial institutions in foreign jurisdictions will likely be unwilling or unable to provide it. At the hearing, representatives from your agency and the Federal Reserve admitted that there are substantial problems in crafting regulations to implement the UIGEA in a manner that does not have a substantial adverse effect on the efficiency of the nation’s payment system.

Your agency and the Federal Reserve have been struggling to issue these regulations, but as the hearing made clear, the underlying statute makes your job extremely difficult, if not impossible. Given the many other priorities that are pending at your agencies, including the mortgage crisis, HOEPA, and UDAP rulewriting and many other issues, we believe it would be imprudent for you to devote additional agency resources to this Sisyphean task, especially as we intend to vigorously pursue legislation to prevent the implementation of these regulations.

BARNEY FRANK
Chairman
Committee on Financial Services

RON PAUL
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy

LUIS V. GUTIERREZ
Chairman
Subcommittee on Domestic and International
Monetary Policy

PETER KING
Member
Committee on Financial Services

My letter to FoF ( www.focusonthefamily.com/... ):

Dear Sir/Madam,

I read the April 18th CitizenLink alert concerning Internet poker with some interest. The main thing that caught my attention was FoF’s willingness to greatly exaggerate the data regarding addiction rates relating to this activity. In fact, it’s exaggerated to the degree that the truthfulness of FoF’s statements could legitimately be called into question. It seems that if Internet poker were so obviously wrong, FoF would be able to argue against it with the truth.

FoF’s statements on Internet poker tend to imply that a large percentage of participants become addicted. However, the UK Gambling Prevalence Study has shown this to be below 1% for all Internet gaming. For games of skill like poker, one would imagine this would be even lower, as such games require a lot of thought and attention. Also, FoF frequently states that minors can play online. However, this assertion has been shown to be clearly false at two Congressional hearings on the matter.

FoF describes legislation seeking to regulate this industry as “dangerous”. However, unlike UIGEA (which does nothing at all for the rare person with a gambling problem), these bills provide for industry-funded programs for treatment of compulsive gamblers.

FoF also stated that UIGEA was passed simply to help the federal government enforce existing state bans on Internet gaming. However, only a handful of states have such laws, and only two have substantial penalties for playing. That’s why banks are not eager to enforce UIGEA, and that’s why neither the Treasury Dept. nor the Federal Reserve has been able to determine what state and federal law requires. UIGEA is a badly flawed bill that ought to be opposed by all conservatives on the grounds that it places excessive regulation on our nation’s financial institutions.

Yesterday’s action alert may scare 70 year olds, but many young people are poker enthusiasts who know the truth about the actual (low) rates of addiction. And, many have been reacting negatively to fundamentalist Christians as a result of this. They have referred to fundamentalist Christians as “Christanazis”, “nutty fundies”, and all sorts of other things on the Internet and other places. There is a lot of anger, to be honest. This would be fine if it were in defense of the truth and of the Bible, but this fight is about neither. In my opinion, the lies and the deceit FoF is willing to use to fight Internet poker do not represent a good witness. In fact, while it’s not my place to judge, I think FoF may be sinning by causing people to see Christianity in a negative light. And, unlike Internet poker issues, the Bible does command Christians to be good witnesses of the faith.

This “battle” will cost FoF many of its other priorities, as I suspect you’ll continue to lose support while paving the way for more big government. I encourage you to look into this more deeply. Perhaps you’ll find it’s time to fold.

Respectfully yours,

[me]

After you send Congress the letter at www.pokerplayersalliance.... (www dot pokerplayersalliance dot org/letter), send your own letter, or call Congress, please post "sent" or "called" here to encourage others.

This is the next phase of the Revolution. Rep. Paul felt strongly enough about changing Congress to forgo a third-party run! Let's stand behind him.

"Frank and Paul seem willfully ignorant of what UIGEA entails. Contrary to what they say, the Act isn't a federal ban on online gambling. Instead it uses federal resources to help the states enforce their bans"

Perhaps the writer should have worded that different. Instead it uses YOUR TAX DOLLARS to help the state enforce their bans.

"It is like a finger pointing away to the moon, don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all the heavenly glory." - Bruce Lee

2Ch 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

1 Peter 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

Their slogan is "Faith, Family, Freedom" and they write this? What kind of double speak "freedom" do they advocate? People are dolts sometimes.

My liberty-minded home base of thought:

www.ponderthis.net

The Family Research Council, dictating how you can live your life one manipulative newsletter at a time.

“It is so readily available — in anyone’s home, at school, at work — without any kind of limitations or constraints,” she said. “You can gamble in the middle of the night at home when your family thinks you’re sleeping. Gambling is a profitable, greedy, private industry and government must protect citizens.”

I guess next will be another prohobition.. after all, you can also drink in the middle of the night at home. Then we can illegalize smoking.. it's a bad habit you can do under the same constraints. Then we really need to get rid of the crap foods we have out there... morbid obesity is rampant in America. Cutting out those late-night transfat sugar bombs will help a lot. While we're at it, we really need to make hotels require some kind of real-ID marriage licence... people are fornicating without regualtion too.

OOP.. wait.. we can't get rid of all the other things.. they have lobbyists.

Ron Paul made today's Focus on the Family alert today as well, at www.citizenlink.org/CLBri... :

Ron Paul Co-Sponsors Bill Legalizing Internet Gambling

Congressmen Ron Paul of Texas and Barney Frank of Massachusetts have sponsored legislation that would undo a federal ban on Internet gambling — a law that took family groups nearly a decade to put in place.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 gives financial institutions a government go-ahead to block payments to off-shore Internet gambling interests. The Frank-Paul bill, backed by the Poker Players Alliance, would cancel that blockade.

Dr. Valerie Lorenz, president and founder of the Forensic Center on Compulsive Gambling, says the Internet gambling industry feeds on anonymity.

“It is so readily available — in anyone’s home, at school, at work — without any kind of limitations or constraints,” she said. “You can gamble in the middle of the night at home when your family thinks you’re sleeping. Gambling is a profitable, greedy, private industry and government must protect citizens.”

TAKE ACTION
Contact your U.S. representative and ask him or her to oppose H.R. 5767, sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank and Rep. Ron Paul, which would legalize online gambling. You can send an e-mail through our Action Center.

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Support the Ron Paul UIGEA moratorium at:
www.pokerplayersalliance....