Conservative Hero John Culberson Can Make a Difference on Spending Bill

John Culberson can remove internet gambling ban from Appropriations Bill[/caption] There are some honest politicians who stand up for us. One of them is Rep. John Culberson (R-TX), who is a consistent supporter of federalism and the Tenth Amendment. Culberson, who has a strong record of consistently supporting limited government and freedom, is in a unique position to once against stop efforts of big government politicians to encroach on our freedoms. In this instance, Washington politicians did it again. They slipped some terrible stuff into a huge piece of legislation hoping we wouldn’t notice, but we have. Sen. Lindsey Graham tried to sneak the internet gambling ban into the gigantic Senate Appropriations Bill. But he got caught with hands in the cookie jar, pushing this odious big government legislation for billionaire crony and support, Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. Simply put, Adelson wants to federal ban gambling online because he thinks it competes with his brick-and-mortar casinos. And rather than upholding federalism and the freedom of his constituents, Graham was doing Adelson’s bidding instead. The language Graham slipped into the huge spending bill comes from the Restoration of America’s Wire Act (RAWA), that he sponsored in the Senate, and was sponsored in the House by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT). RAWA had very little support in Congress, even after the hearing Chaffetz held on the bill, because it clearly violates the authority of states to set laws and regulations on internet-based gambling in accordance with the Tenth Amendment. Many members of Congress, and the grass-roots groups that strongly opposed RAWA, also know the legislation could lead to the federal government abusing the same authority to ban internet-based gambling to also violate the Second Amendment by banning the sale of firearms and ammunition on the internet. After RAWA failed to gain much support in either House of Congress, Graham tried to quietly get it passed anyway by sneaking it into the huge Appropriations Bill and hoping no one would notice, except his pal Adelson, who is the chief financial backer of RAWA. Here is the language Graham slipped into the bill: “Internet Gambling — Since 1961, the Wire Act has prohibited nearly all forms of gambling over interstate wires, including the Internet. However, beginning in 2011, certain states began to permit Internet gambling. The Committee notes that the Wire Act did not change in 2011. The Committee also notes that the Supreme Court of the United States has stated that ‘criminal laws are for courts, not for the Government, to construe.’” Abramski v. U.S., 134 S. Ct. 2259, 2274 (2014) (internal citation omitted) The Appropriations Bill goes to the House Appropriations Committee next, where Rep. Culberson can put an end to this charade by Graham, because he can remove the language and ensure that RAWA doesn’t get enacted when the bill is passed on final consideration by both houses of Congress. Culberson, who is a strong fiscal and social conservative rated highly by many grass-roots conservative organizations, is expected to, and likely will, remove the internet-gambling ban from the bill. RAWA is strongly opposed by many organizations, who have signed a letter to Rep. Culberson asking him to remove the internet gambling ban language from the Appropriations Bill. The groups signing the letter include the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the Center for Freedom & Prosperity, the Taxpayer Protection Alliance, the Institute for Liberty, the Campaign for Liberty, and the Mental Recession. Culberson can make a real difference, once again as a strong supporter of federalism and the Tenth Amendment, by removing RAWA from the Appropriations Bill. The trickery of Sen. Graham, and his cronyism on behalf of Adelson and his gambling interests, at the expense of the public interest, should be defeated. This is a great opportunity for Rep. Culberson to once again stand up for conservative principles.]]>