UIGE and an American Lament

While some people in the Philippines complain about the coming Internet gambling boom and the “corrupting influence” it will supposedly bring to these shores, on the farther shore of the Pacific Ocean are Americans complaining about the lost jobs. The culprit? The passage of the UIGE Act last year that cut off the financial bloodline of online casinos. 

Everyone knows online gambling won’t completely turn its back on Americans, but we won’t be at the forefront. The newest and best options will pass us by. The newest wrinkles and twists on betting will only come to us second-hand. Worst of all, the endless opportunities for jobs and taxes will instead go to people in Malta, the Philippines, or any of a number of countries embracing the industry. . . . .

So thank Congress and Bill Frist for sending us all into a state of pointless decay. Yes slightly fewer people might gamble online, but how do we as a society win from this? Money not wagered online still tends to find a way into action. The gambling activities are rarely subverted in whole. Besides last time I checked Americans are not lacking in frivolous or downright dumb ways to spend their money.

Many of these ways to spend money increasingly support lower paid service jobs and areas with little American value added. Shopping to your heart’s content and buying made in China products does a lot less good than products designed by Americans, sold by Americans, and taxed by Americans Instead some young Filipino will double his earnings opportunity just because he speaks English, while some potential American sportsbook employee will have to continue to compete against an outsourced Indian or Chinese resource.

Maybe First Cagayan should send a thank you note to US Senator Bill Frist, the Republican from Tennessee? Better yet, how about a few thousand shares in Leisure and Resorts?