The Washington Post Stands Firmly Against Online Gambling

Today there will be a critical vote in the D.C. Council committee on whether online gambling in the district should be legalized or not. According to a leading US newspaper, The Washington Post, the process of achieving such a vote is so corrupt, it should never be allowed to pass.

The Washington Post claims that several council members, are set to repeal the change in the American gambling laws, on the grounds that they never truly knew what the original vote, back in 2009 was about.

That year, the first steps were made to approve internet gambling in United States, by uniting it with an existing lottery contract. The following year, the removal of legal prohibitions against online gambling was on the agenda.

What appears to have angered the Washington Post, and if it is to be believed, some of the council members as well, is that they feel they were not told everything they feel they should have been. And now these facts are slowly beginning to come to light.

A report by Inspector General Charles J. Willoughby indicated that one Mr. Natwar M. Gandhi, Chief Financial Officer, had allowed online gambling to be ensured within the 2009 contract, without informing the council.

Rival lottery vendors representing several companies, are rumored to be angered with the lack of opportunities to compete in bidding on the proposal. It is believed Mr. Michael A. Brown, a council member, hadn’t followed legislative protocol when, in 2010 he included a section to effectively legalize gambling. The Washington Post, argues that this was because Mr. Brown, at the time had an outside employer, who was thoroughly invested with gaming interests of their own.

Whether or not the future online casinos in United States, can make headway at the D.C. Council vote today is yet unclear. Some of the council members, like Muriel Bowser, who sits on the finance committee, do not hold a true opinion on the matter.

But like most, Muriel Bowser feels that regardless of how it plays out, the manner in which this all came to be is wrong and flawed, and commented that “we need to start over”.

The vote in D.C. Council today will undoubtedly be filled with arguments from both sides, and this frosty battle on whether to proceed forward with online gaming or not, almost certainly won’t be settled today.