POLICY

State lawmakers last week killed a plan by the governor to put surveillance cameras on Interstate 95, with some brave legislators saying they are afraid to go too far down the road toward Big Brother's embrace. I'm glad to see someone willing to draw the line somewhere against unwarranted intrusions, though our lives are already being chronicled and archived in ways that would astound George Orwell, from daily key-card swipes and debit-card purchases to every single Google search.

But if you really want to meet Big Brother around here, you need go no farther than the two casinos, where surveillance cameras are everywhere, not just on the gaming tables but even in the garage, to check whether valet parkers are speeding.

We were reminded of this again last week, with the news that a casino customer has won a judgment against the Mashantucket Pequots for a fall she took in a bathroom hallway at Foxwoods Resort Casino.

The entire incident had been filmed and saved, which suggests just how many millions of small moments — a winning blackjack hand, a spilled drink, a stolen kiss or a slip and fall — are recorded and saved at the casinos' surveillance command stations.

It occurs to me, now that it's once again National Problem Gambling Awareness Week, that the casinos could easily use all their spyware and customer databases to help create an environment safe, or at least safer, for people with gambling problems.

Casino executives are making their annual nod this week to gambling-addiction political correctness. Expect to hear them say again how they don't want problem gamblers in their casinos, any more than bars want drunks. It's a good line, but I don't think it's true.

Bars don't want drunks because they are loud and messy and serving them is a clear violation of liquor laws. Gambling addicts, on the other hand, are invisible, and profitable.

Problem gamblers, casino executives say, are free to exclude themselves by putting their names on a list that would bar them from gambling. But that's not going to help those who are busy chasing their addictions, not trying to recover from them.

Instead, the casinos should use the many tools they have available to identify and discourage problem gamblers. Each time a player checks in with a pit boss or slides a customer card into a slot machine, they are identified in a database that would show exactly how much time and money they are spending.

How hard would it be to set up an electronic alert system to intervene when someone has spent hours on end at the same machine? In the case of credit customers, the casinos know and could act when a customer's gambling exceeds what they can afford.

Last week, a lawyer who says she lost $1 million in Atlantic City casinos sued six of them, saying they should have intervened when she was on her days-long gambling stints, instead of bringing her orange juice and snacks to keep her going.

It is an interesting lawsuit, one that might worry an industry that sits on statistics that could prove just how pervasive a problem compulsive gambling may be.

Maybe someone some day will make the Big Brothers at the casinos tell what they know.

The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce's study on casino gambling attracted a lot of attention last week. And the odds are better than anything you will get in Vegas that Governor Slots and his partners in the gambling industry will trumpet loudly the study's findings supporting his revenue and jobs estimates at next week's State House hearing on his three-casinos-and-counting vision.

Readers of this column know well where I stand on casino gambling in Massachusetts: I am against it. The title page of this "objective third-party analysis" tells you just as clearly the bias of the chamber report: "Casino Gaming in Massachusetts." If it is the "gaming" industry, not the "gambling" industry, does that make those who play "gamers" and those who don't "nongamers"?

Still there is good information in this 130-page report done for the chamber by UHY Advisors. But you actually have to read it. Three points:

1. Governor Slots needs to turn Massachusetts into a gambling mecca to make his numbers work.

According to the report, Massachusetts ranks 23d in the country in "gross gaming revenues" - or, in English, gambling losses. That puts us right in the middle of the pack when it comes to gambling, a good place to be when it comes to any tax. The governor's plan, however, would vault Massachusetts to number six. Only Nevada, California, New Jersey, New York, and Louisiana would be bigger gambling states. Gambling losses would jump 150 percent to about $3.6 billion from $1.4 billion.

Governor Slots needs Massachusetts residents to lose twice as much at the casino to make his plan work. Massachusetts gamers now lose $800 million a year in Connecticut and Rhode Island casinos, the study says. The study estimates they will lose between $1.5 billion and $1.75 billion in Massachusetts casinos. Three-quarters of all the losses will come from Massachusetts residents, the report says. These "destination casinos" will be drawing the lion's share of their gamers from faraway places like Quincy and Revere.

Massachusetts needs to be more like Connecticut, the report says. Massachusetts residents now lose an average of $290 per adult a year; Connecticut residents lose twice that, or $576. The report estimates that casinos could add another $300 to $350 to the losses of each Massachusetts adult. Together we can!

We should be careful what we wish for. Massachusetts ranks 28th in total local and state tax burden, according to the Tax Foundation; Connecticut ranks eighth. Connecticut also has a higher unemployment rate.

The study has no trouble quantifying the casinos' positive impact on jobs and state revenue. But on the costs, it is mostly silent or befuddled. How much will casinos draw from other local businesses? "The impact is hard to measure," the report says. What are the social costs of expanded gambling? "Difficult to measure," the report says. How many of the gamers can we bring back from Connecticut and Rhode Island? A lot, but how many we don't know.

The report does make one thing perfectly clear: At 27 percent, Massachusetts will have one of the nation's highest tax rates. The report has no trouble quantifying that: "Massachusetts will have the fifth-highest effective tax rate." The result, the report warns, could mean slower growth and few jobs here as the industry makes choices where to allocate capital.

How long until Donald Trump is roaming the State House lobbying to cut those onerous taxes? And right beside him will be chamber president Paul Guzzi, a declared gambling proponent, pushing for a tax cut for the gambling companies, just as the chamber did for every other industry from financial services to defense.

Don't say they didn't tell us - it is right there (repeatedly) in the chamber's own report.

Steve Bailey is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at bailey@globe.com or at 617-929-2902.

In light of yesterday's slot referendum in Miami-Dade county, the Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling says it is time the state stepped to the plate and set aside funding for gambling addiction treatment. Despite the expansion of gambling revenues and taxes, existing State funding only supports prevention, education and outreach programs. Though the FCCG has come a long way, it is imperative that Florida put a plan of action in place that will fund compulsive gambling treatment, enabling citizens with gambling problems to access the help they need NOW! Any gambling expansion in the state should be accompanied by a requirement for funding for treatment and corresponding programs and research. Citizens can no longer wait. By statute, gambling facility operators are required to implement responsible gaming programs, as was done for the Broward slots

(PRWEB) January 31, 2008 -- The Florida Council on Compulsive Gambling (FCCG) today called upon the State to step to the plate and set aside funding for gambling addiction treatment. "Residents are already struggling from the ill effects of gambling and while the FCCG maintains a neutral stance, it cannot sit back quietly when the State to date has yet to support treatment for those negatively impacted, in which there are hundreds of thousands throughout Florida. Yesterday's approval of the slot machine referendum in Miami-Dade County, which allows slot machines at the county's dog and horse tracks, as well as Jai-Alai fronton, represents another significant expansion of gambling in the State.

Ashe explained that since the inception of the FCCG in February 1988, the organization has witnessed major gambling expansion in the State. In Florida today, gambling options include lottery games, bingo venues, Native American casinos, pari-mutuel facilities (including poker) and slot machines in Broward County, and soon to be in Miami-Dade and Seminole facilities. In addition, there are casino cruise ships to nowhere, as well as an array of illegal gambling activities, including but not limited to Internet betting sites, sports wagering and other gambling opportunities. Such expansion has also precipitated a growing and ongoing need for assistance and treatment for those adversely affected by problem and compulsive (pathological) gambling.

"Despite the expansion of gambling revenues and taxes, existing State funding only supports prevention, education and outreach programs. Though the FCCG has come a long way, it is imperative that Florida put a plan of action in place that will fund compulsive gambling treatment, enabling citizens with gambling problems to access the help they need NOW! Our concern over the referendum is based on a disturbing fact - slot machines are the number one primary gambling problem identified by callers to the Florida Council's 888-ADMIT-IT Problem Gambling HelpLine. Further, calls to our HelpLine increased a near 25% within the past year alone, and Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach residents placed the highest volume of contacts," stated Ashe.

"Any gambling expansion in the state should be accompanied by a requirement for funding for treatment and corresponding programs and research. Citizens can no longer wait. By statute, gambling facility operators are required to implement responsible gaming programs, as was done for the Broward slots," Ashe concluded.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Proponents said a bill that would allow bars and taverns to offer pull tabs and other low-stakes gambling would help bars and taverns stay in business.

Proponents won their way Tuesday as the House passed the legislation 62-36. The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.

Lawmakers have estimated that if the bill became law, it would generate between $5 million to $25 million in annual tax revenue.

Republican Rep. Matt Bell of Avilla, a co-author of the bill, said many bars and taverns were struggling financially and the bill would help some of them stay in business.

He also said that gambling ''is part of who we are in Indiana for better or worse.''

House Minority Leader Brian Bosma (R-Indianapolis) said the legislation was yet another expansion of legalized gambling.

''Gaming in this state is the crack cocaine of public policy,'' he said. ''We started and we can't get enough.''

WASHINGTON — In just a few months, “Carol” dumped nearly $21,000 into the slot machines at her Army base in Germany.

“The bowling alley was next door to where I worked; I started going in to eat lunch and started dropping a few coins in the machines,” said the senior noncommissioned officer, who asked that her full name not appear in print. “I won a few times; next thing you know, I was going to the bowling alley every day for lunch, and then after work.”

Carol believes she has a gambling problem, but is reluctant to seek counseling on base because she fears that her superiors may distrust or demote her if they learn about her mistakes.

“I received a lump bonus payment of over $30,000,” she said. “My plan was to pay off debts and be able to retire debt-free except for the mortgage payment. In less than four months, I had gone through the money with nothing to show for it.”

Slots and video gambling at overseas bases brought in about $185 million for Morale, Welfare and Recreation programs last year.

Davis, a Democrat, is behind a new congressional push to ban gambling at overseas military bases because of what he feels is its inherently addictive nature. The Southern Baptist admits that he opposes gambling on moral grounds, but insists that’s not the issue behind his latest efforts.

“We’ve got research to show that 30,000 of our troops may be pathological gamblers, and we ought to be ashamed that we’re adding to that,” he said.

“This isn’t about troops’ right to choose how they entertain themselves. It’s about the U.S. government endorsing gambling.”

Military officials disagree, pointing to a 2001 Pentagon study which asserts that overseas gambling “does not have a negative effect on the morale or financial stability of our forces.” While the study acknowledged cases of individuals with gambling problems, the study showed no systemic problems with having slots on bases.

All stateside bases and those in U.S. territories Guam and Puerto Rico are banned from installing games of chance, but, combined, the four services operate more than 5,400 gambling machines at overseas military facilities.

Service officials said profits collected represent a small but important portion of MWR funds, paying for things such as free Internet access, youth sports, and equipment purchases at local bases. It also covers costs of minor renovations and in some cases major construction of recreation facilities.

But Davis said money for those projects shouldn’t come from “soldiers’ wallets,” noting the Defense Department’s nearly $700 billion budget for this year.

“It’s ludicrous that we’re even talking about this,” he said. “But I’m willing to work with the department to find that money, if that’s all it takes.”

Officials from all four services boast safer gambling rooms than foreign gambling establishments, and higher payouts for players. The military slots maintain between 90 percent and 94 percent payouts.

By contrast, Nevada rules mandate only a 75 percent payout; New Jersey regulations mandate at least an 80 percent payout.

Quoting the 2001 study, Defense spokesman Lt. Col. Les’ Melnyk said the goal of the machines is to “provide both a recreational opportunity to servicemembers and adult family members overseas and also a source of revenue to improve Morale, Welfare and Recreation programs worldwide.”

He compared the slots parlors to video arcades, movie theaters, bowling alleys and other MWR options overseas and said officials work to make sure all the entertainment programs are run fairly and responsibly.

Slots and games of chance were first made available at overseas military bases in the 1930s and 1940s, but were banned by the Army and Air Force in the early 1970s because of allegations of corruption and mismanagement.

Less than a decade later, both services began pilot programs to see whether slots and the MWR funds they brought in could be reintroduced in Europe and the Far East.

Department of Defense health behavior studies in 1998, 2000 and 2002 all found between 5 percent and 9 percent of military personnel had experienced a gambling-related problem in their lifetime, and about 2 percent (about 30,000 of the total force at the time) fit the classification for pathological gambling problems.

The Pentagon stopped tracking that statistic in its periodic health reviews after 2002, and the study conducted a year earlier by MWR officials found slot machines posed no significant threat to the force.

But John Kindt, a University of Illinois business professor who has studied the gambling industry and focused on the military in recent years, said that to compare watching a movie with risking one’s paycheck on video poker is to minimize the danger of gambling.

“We’ve seen civilian studies where populations with easy access to slot machines have nearly doubled the number of problem gamblers,” he said. “The slots are easy and highly addictive.”

“If they got rid of the machines, there would still be some with serious problems who go off base or get involved in back-room poker games. But just having them there, you get some people addicted who never would have had a problem otherwise.”

In a report to Congress a year ago, Kindt lobbied for banning all overseas gambling because the potential pitfalls outweighed the “minimal benefits” of entertainment and extra MWR funds.

He said Defense officials have not done enough in recent years to ensure that addiction counselors and help programs like Gamblers Anonymous are available at bases with slots, and the absence of such services makes it easier for troops to slide from casual gambling to serious gambling problems.

In the past two years, two Navy inpatient programs dealing with gambling addiction — one in California, one on Okinawa — were closed.

But service officials said numerous resources are still available to troops or families who think they may have a problem.

David DuBois, family support programs deputy for Naval Installations Command, said all Navy family centers worldwide provide some treatment options or referrals on gambling issues. And commanders have the authority to refer servicemembers to counseling at any sign of financial misconduct.

Marine Corps officials said their anti-addiction efforts include financial training and debt management assistance for all servicemembers. Kenneth Pruitt, spokesman for Air Force Personnel Command, said along with the gambling counseling programs available at local bases, “we instill a culture of responsibility” among airmen to help them avoid addiction problems.

Carol, the soldier who spent $21,000 at the slots, said the ease of access to the gaming machines and the lack of a nonmilitary anti-gambling program have contributed to her problems.

And while she’s not sure that banning gambling at all overseas bases is the answer — “Is that fair to the people who do not have an addiction?” — she believes that her own problems would be solved if slots weren’t so easily available.

Americans tend to look with some degree of amused condescension at our Canadian friends. Whether it's the mounted police or socialized medicine, there exists a feeling that America does things better. When it comes to regulating casino gambling, however, we may have something to learn from our neighbors to the north.
Canada operates its casinos as public enterprises. The provinces, not private individuals, own the casino and keep most of the profits for public use. This contrasts to the system in the United States, where wealthy investors able to afford the high initial capital requirements for a casino, are the only ones who get a stake in the immense profits of the gaming industry.
For now it seems that Gov. Deval Patrick, in his quest for casinos in Massachusetts, will follow the normal model of seeking private investors to build his gambling havens. But what if he didn't? What if the state took a gamble in which it could win big and shut out the likes of Donald Trump, Steve Wynn, Marion Illich, and Kerk Kerkorian in favor of the rest of us?
The involvement of these financial gurus and their ilk in the casino business demonstrates the monetary potential of the industry. Consider Las Vegas. No dream, no project, no capital investment is too outrageous for Vegas. A half-size replica of the Eiffel tower, a roller coaster, a $2.7 billion resort all became a reality in the deluge of casino receipts on the Vegas strip.
If the wealth of the investors named above is any indication, however, these gambles aren't a fool's bet - they are paying off over and above the normal rate of return. But why should wealthy private investors be the ones to capitalize on these mega-projects that bring such substantial and, in some cases, negative effects to the community. If the economic and social interests of the populace are going to be invested in the project through increased competition in the entertainment and hospitality industries, more traffic through the area, and higher rates of bankruptcy and crime, then maybe the community shouldn't just take its tax money and shut up. Maybe it should have a more active voice in what goes on in its gambling halls.

There exists a precedent in America for increasing community involvement in large-scale projects with major effects on the surrounding community. The growing trend of using public-private partnerships to build and regulate large entertainment venues has had widespread effects on integration of these venues into the larger fabric of city life. Increasingly, cities and states are now turning to public funding for large-scale arena and convention center projects, administering them through the medium of public boards and associations. This provides the community with a voice in how these businesses that affect the communal fabric of their lives will be run.
Some would argue that casino gambling is not the business of government - that states have no business involving themselves in the gaming industry or private enterprise in general. This, however, ignores the precedent set by state-owned lotteries (which are owned and advertised by the state) and the fact that states already benefit from casinos.
In fact, it may be better not only from a fiscal standpoint to have public-private collaboration, but also from a social perspective. When casinos are owned by private enterprises, they are businesses and operate as such. But do we really want casino establishments to maximize their profits? Are we okay with allowing wealthy private investors to profit off the addiction of the 1-2 percent of their clientele that are pathological gamblers? A private enterprise has no motivation to get them to stop. By allowing for some public voice, however, casinos will no longer be simply a business.
Consider Canada. The province of Ontario, which owns four commercial casinos, has one of the best-funded problem-gambling programs in the world.
Two percent of slot revenues (around $40 million) fund a number of initiatives to help patrons know their limits. In addition, there has been increasing discussion about holding casinos liable for the patterns of their patrons.
In the same way that a bar is legally required to stop serving visibly drunk patrons, so too casinos in Canada, which track customer spending habits via a "player's card," may soon be responsible for holding their patrons to their limits. This simply would not be possible in a privately owned casino environment.
Casinos are coming to Massachusetts. The state has a responsibility to protect its citizens and ensure that they are getting the best deal out of it. It is clear that Patrick wants to use these casinos for local economic development and revenue-raising purposes, while not compromising the communities into which they come.
The Canadian solution, therefore, deserves some consideration as a means to these ends.

Massachussetts Democratic Congressman Barney Frank’s bill that calls for the United States to license Internet gambling has picked up another supporter.
Congressman Raul M. Grijalva of Arizona became the 38th member of Congress to cosponsor H.R. 2046.
The bill, which calls for the United States to license Internet gambling facilities through the director of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, was referred to the subcommittee on commerce, trade, and consumer protection in April, where it remains.
Frank has indicated that he will soon introduce a bill that would end the Unlawful Internet gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). The UIGEA was passed last year and is the latest legal tool that the United States has implemented to stop online gambling. The UIGEA makes it illegal for banks to do business with offshore Internet casinos and poker rooms.
The following are the 38 cosponsors and their contact numbers:

Representative	Party affiliation	State	Phone number
Neil Abercrombie	Democrat	Hawaii	(808) 541-2570
Gary Ackerman	Democrat	New York	(718) 423-2154
Joe Baca	Democrat	California	(909) 885-2222
Shelly Berkley	Democrat	Nevada	(702) 220-9823
Howard Berman	Democrat	California	(818) 994-7200
Michael Capuano	Democrat	Massachusetts	(617) 621-6208
Russ Carnahan	Democrat	Missouri	(314) 962-1523
Julia Carson	Democrat	Indiana	(317) 283-6516
Joseph Crowley	Democrat	New York	(718) 779-1400
William Lacy Clay	Democrat	Missouri	(314) 890-0349
William Delahunt	Democrat	Massachusetts	(617) 770-3700
Bob Filner	Democrat	California	(619) 422-5963
Vito Fossella	Republican	New York	(718) 356-8400
Raul Grijalva	Democrat	Arizona	(520) 622-6788
Luis Gutierrez	Democrat	Illinois	(773) 384-1655
Alcee Hastings	Democrat	Florida	(954) 733-2800
Michael Honda	Democrat	California	(408) 558-8085
Steve Israel	Democrat	New York	(631) 951-2210
Peter King	Republican	New York	(516) 541-4225
Carolyn McCarthy	Democrat	California	(516) 739-3008
Jim McDermott	Democrat	Washington	(206) 553-7170
James McGovern	Democrat	Massachusetts	(508) 831-7356
Charlie Melancon	Democrat	Louisiana	(225) 621-8490
Ron Paul	Republican	Texas	(361) 576-1231
Ed Perlmutter	Democrat	Colorado	(303) 274-7944
Ciro Rodriguez	Democrat	Texas	(210) 922-1874
Steven Rothman	Democrat	New Jersey	(201) 646-0808
Linda Sanchez	Democrat	California	(562) 860-5050
Adam Schiff	Democrat	California	(626) 304-2727
Bobby Scott	Democrat	Virginia	(757) 380-1000
Bennie Thompson	Democrat	Mississippi	(202) 225-5876
Edolphus Towns	Democrat	New York	(718) 855-8018
Melvin Watt	Democrat	North Carolina	(202) 225-1510
Anthony Weiner	Democrat	New York	(718) 520-9001
Robert Wexler	Democrat	Florida	(561) 988-6302
Lynn Woolsey	Democrat	California	(707) 542-7182
Albert Russell Wynn	Democrat	Maryland	(301) 773-4094
Don Young	Republican	Alaska	(907) 271-5978

A state senate committee on racing and wagering is scheduled to hold a third public hearing Wednesday in Albany where four bidders for the state's racing franchise and video lottery terminals machines will make their case.
Gov. Eliot Spitzer has chosen the New York Racing Association as the racing franchisee. But left undecided is who would install and run the video gambling component.
The hearing, convened by state Sen. William Larkin (R-C, Cornwall-on-Hudson), follows another hearing last week in Elmont where angry residents lambasted NYRA and the Belmont race track for ignoring their community's needs.
NYRA is pledging to do better.

BOSTON - A Web site promoting campus gambling and containing links to online poker sites uses the University of Massachusetts name and logo to promote itself, and school officials are demanding that it be taken down.

UMasspoker.com contains the trademarked UMass-Amherst lettering and Minuteman athletic logo and depicts the Minuteman peering over stacks of cash, dice, cards and poker chips. School officials will send a cease-and-desist demand to the site’s operators.

"If they don’t comply then we go to court," school spokesman Ed Blaguszewski told The Associated Press on today. "The UMass name and logo are university property, and they cannot be used without the university’s permission. This Web site is not an appropriate use."

In a May 2005 letter to the student newspaper, the Daily Collegian, David E. Rudman described himself as "a founding member" of UMasspoker.com, which he described as a nonprofit site home to 500 UMass poker players "who share information, discuss theory and dispel ’get-rich-quick’ rumors." There was no Massachusetts phone listing to Rudman.

The next step of Casino Gambling Web's 'IGREA Initiative' will be calling all of the representatives in the House Financial Services Committee. The first step of the site's campaign started with the delivery of 435 informational packages to every congress person in the House.
Of the 37 Democratic members serving on the House Financial Services Committee, only 11 have signed on to co-sponsor Chairman Barney Frank's Bill H.R. 2046, which aims to create an exception to the UIGEA that would allow the legalization and regulation of online gambling.
"We urge all Americans who would like to see Internet gambling legalized call these members of the Financial Services Committee and express your support for 'The IGREA Initiative'," said Gordon Price of Casino Gambling Web.
The site's cause may have been helped yesterday with the release of the first UK Gambling Prevalence Study done in 8 years. The results showed problem gambling to be dramatically lower than expected.
"Let the congress person you call know about the results of this UK study, as well as the Harvard study that found a 0.4% incidence of problem gambling amongst the gambling public," Price said.
Price suggested callers ask for an aid responsible for Bill HR 2046 and leave a message for them about the issue if they do not answer.
Below is a list of all Democratic Congress people on the Financial Services Committee who have yet to sign on to co-sponsor Barney Frank's bill.
Paul E. Kanjorski 11th-PA ... 202-225-6511
Maxine Waters 35th-CA ... 202-225-2201
Maloney 14th-NY... 202-225.7944
Nydia M. Velázquez 12th-NY ... 202-225-2361
Brad Sherman 27th-CA ... 202-225-5911
Gregory Meeks 6th-NY ... 202-225-3461
Dennis Moore 3-KS ... 202-225-2865
Rubén Hinojosa 15th-TX ... 202-225-2531
Stephen Lynch 9th-MA ... 202-225-8273
Brad Miller 13th-NC ... 202-225-3032
David Scott 13th-GA ... 202-225-2939
Al Green 9th-TX ... 202-225-7508
Emanuel Cleaver 5th-MO ... 202-225-4535
Melissa Bean 8th-IL ... 202-225-3711
Gwen Moore 4th-WI ... 202-225-4572
Davis 4th-TN ... 202.225.6831
Albio Sires 13th-NJ ... 202-225-7919
Paul Hodes 2nd-NH ... 202-225-5206
Keith Ellison 5th-MN ... 202-225-4755
Ron Klein 22nd-FL ... 202-225-3026
Tim Mahoney 16th-FL ... 202-225-5792
Charlie Wilson 6th-OH ... 202-225-5705
Chris Murphy 5th-CT ... 202-225-4476
Joe Donnelly 2nd-IN ... 202-225-3915
Jim Marshall 8th-GA ... 202-225-6531
Dan Boren 2nd-OK ... 202-225-2701
Of the 32 Republicans listed as members of the Financial Services Committee, only 2 have signed on to co-sponsor Frank's Bill H.R. 2046. Those that have not yet, are listed below.
Spencer Bachus 6th-AL ... 202 225-4921
Richard Baker 6th-LA ... 202-225-3901
Deborah Pryce 15th-OH ... 202-225-2015
Mike Castle DE ... 202-225-4165
Ed Royce 40th-CA ... 202-225-4111
Frank Lucas 3rd-OK ... 202-225-5565
Steven LaTourette 14th-OH ... 202-225-5731
Don Manzullo 16th-IL ... 202-225-5676
Walter Jones 3rd-NC ... 202-225-3415
Judy Biggert 13th-IL ... 202-225-3515
Christopher Shays 4th-CT ... 202-225-5541
Gary Miller 42nd-CA ... 202-225-3201
Shelly Moore Capitol 2nd-WV ... 202-225-2711
Tom Feeney 24th-FL ... 202-225-2706
Jeb Hensarling 5th-TX ... 202-225-3484
Scott Garrett 5th-NJ ... 202-225-4465
Ginny Brown-Waite 5th-FL ... 202-225-1002
J. Gresham Barrett 3rd-SC ... 202-225-5301
Jim Gerlach 6th-PA ... 202-225-4315
Steve Pearce 2nd-NM ... 202-225-2365
Randy Neugebauer 19th-TX ... 202-225-4005
Tom Price 6th-GA ... 202-225-4501
Geoff Davis 4th-KY ... 202-225-3465
Patrick McHenry 10th-NC ... 202-225-2576
John Campbell 48th-CA ... 202-225-5611
Adam Putnam 12th-FL ... 202-225-1252
Michele Bachmann 6th-MN ... 202-225-2331
Peter Roskam 6th-IL ... 202-225-4561
Kenny Marchant 24th-TX ... 202-225-6605
Thaddeus McCotter 11th-MI ... 202-225-8171

Editorial: Silver really worried about gambling?

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver must have a new role model: Louis Renault, the always maneuvering and calculating police captain in "Casablanca."
Yes, Silver is "shocked, shocked" to think of gambling going on here on Long Island. He's just so concerned that locals would become addicted to gambling and face financial ruin. This, of course, could never happen 11 miles away at Aqueduct, where Silver has backed video lottery terminals.
Perhaps Silver just needs to get out more, to observe the lines along Sunrise Highway for buses to Atlantic City and the crowded roads on the North Fork leading to the ferries and Connecticut casinos. Maybe he should check the flights from metro airports to Las Vegas.

People in all income brackets will gamble - high rollers get comped, and the ones Silver alludes to being concerned about buy Mega Millions tickets or put two dollars down on a bolita at the local bodega. By blocking video lottery terminals at Belmont, all Silver does is deny the Elmont community much-needed redevelopment and Long Islanders a much-needed revenue stream to ease their tax burden.
What's really going on in Albany is a high stakes game over who gets awarded the lucrative franchise to operate the state's thoroughbred tracks: Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga. Belmont seems to be Silver's ace, and he's not ready to play it yet. And Gov. Eliot Spitzer is too weak to take him on.
But Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) is playing his cards wisely. He just got the Senate's committee on Racing, Gaming and Wagering to plan a hearing in Elmont about the track's future. If there is local support for a "racino" then the powerful Long Island delegation would support it. This could just be a roundup of the usual suspects - or it could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

The University at Albany is not a basketball school. It's not a lacrosse school. It's not a football school.

Forget nanoscience and business and the rest: You're talking about one the premier institutions in the world for Texas Hold'em.

Defying odds that rank up there with flopping a straight flush, former UAlbany students have played their way to the final table the past two World Series of Poker main events.

Last year it was steady Jamie Gold, a '91 grad who bested 8,772 other card sharks to walk away with the title and $12 million.

This week it's Hevad Khan, who attended UAlbany from the spring of 2004 to the fall of 2006. The Poughkeepsie native dropped out to play poker full time, and it paid off; he finished sixth out of the field of 6,358. His take: $956,243.

The Great Danes sports program is firmly on its way to the big time. UAlbany teams netted eight America East titles and five NCAA Tournament appearances this past school year. The men's basketball and lacrosse teams gained wide national exposure. And in April, cornerback Rashad Barksdale was drafted in the sixth round by the Philadelphia Eagles.

In the U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup standings, UAlbany ranked 89th out of 289 Division I schools. A great year.

But the school is woefully neglecting its best sport, one that has produced two international stars in just the past two years. You'd think with former students like this, UAlbany would walk away with the NCAA Texas Hold'em title.

"We don't have a poker program," said Lee McElroy, UAlbany's vice president and athletic director. "That is gambling, which is prohibited by the NCAA."

In fact, he added, all UAlbany athletes are "barred from participation in any gambling activity, whether it's related to the sport or not."

Pity. Well, not really. But think of the new students signing on if UAlbany pitched this correctly:

University at Al(l-in)bany ... Albany: Improve the Hand Life Dealt You ... UAlbany Poker: They call it goofing off. We call it extra credit.

Instead, UAlbany is folding. "Gambling on campus or using campus facilities to gamble is prohibited," according to a university statement. "It is a coincidence that of our 138,000 living alumni, two former students, who attended the University some 15 years apart, have achieved similar success at poker."

Too bad: Khan is a one-man marketing bonanza. His table-side theatrics -- roaring and jumping and using his chair as a prop -- will net him more air time than Barry Bonds on ESPN and The Deuce.

Just 22, Khan is already a legend in the online world, playing two dozen tables at a time under the name RaiNKhaN on PokerStars.net. Webmasters were convinced he had to be a 'bot, or program. To prove his identity, Khan had himself filmed playing 26 sit-and-go tournaments at once. He's no robot, but he is a machine. UAlbany sports will continue to flourish. An afterthought through much of its history, athletics have become one of the school's selling points.

"When you have the kind of year we had," McElroy said, "we have to continue to work harder and harder."

Mark McGuire can be reached at 454-5467 or by e-mail at mmcguire@timesunion.com. Visit his blog at http://blogs.timesunion.com/ mcguire.

The Swedish government is to commission a new report regarding the rules that govern the Swedish betting market. But state-owned Svenska Spel is to retain the sole right to organize gambling activities regarded as particularly problematic from a social perspective.

Writing in Svenska Dagbladet, Finance Minister Anders Borg and Public Health Minister Maria Larsson explain that the government's main priority is to institute a ban on aggressive marketing in the gaming industry.

"Gambling addiction is on a par with alcoholism: an addictive behaviour that is very difficult to break," the ministers write.

Jan Nyrén from the Swedish Police Service has been charged with presenting a set of proposals to the government by the end of next year.

Moderate Party member of parliament Tomas Tobé, who favours deregulation of the gaming market, has vowed to continue pushing for a parliamentary majority to remove the state monopoly.

"This proposal will do very little to appease the EU Commission and Sweden can expect a summons to the European Court of Justice and a subsequent conviction," he said.

The EU Commission has threatened to take Sweden to court for a failure to respect the freedom of establishment. Sweden's argument that the monopoly is necessary from a public health standpoint has not been accepted by the Commission.

Despite his misgivings, Tomas Tobé viewed Wednesday's announcement as a step in the right direction.

"It at least paves the way for responsible companies other than Svenska Spel to legally establish themselves in Sweden in the future," he said.