What does gambling have in common with liberty? Well, a lot actually if you consider the proposed legislation in Congress which would ban online gambling at the federal level.

Currently there are are three states that allow their residents to gamble online: New Jersey, Delaware, and Nevada. The "Restoration of America's Wire Act" (RAWA) would overturn the law in these three states and make gambling online illegal in all 50 states.

As is often the case, looking at who supports legislation is a good indicator about what the law would actually do. In this case, RAWA is supported by one billionaire Las Vegas casino owner, who also happens to be a huge political donor. This also happens to be a casino owner who has not invested in the online gaming industry, instead preferring to focus on drawing people to Las Vegas. Obviously online gaming would cut in on his casino business.

In addition to this being a clear case of crony capitalism, such legislation banning certain websites also has privacy implications. In order to ensure that Americans are not gambling online, there would have to be a certain level of surveillance of the Internet. The law also turns federalism on its head by overriding existing state law.

Whether you gamble or not, all Americans opposed to crony capitalism, online surveillance, and big government overturning state law should oppose RAWA. Contact your senators and representatives at 202-224-3121.