Politicians Silent On US Refusal To Comply With WTO Online Gambling Ruling

On Friday, April 4, 2007, the US announced its decision to ‘modify’ the commitment made in 1993 to open U.S. markets to “recreational services.” and clarify that gambling services are not included. This unprecedented action would remove any WTO jurisdiction to online gaming and nullify Antigua’s recent WTO court victory.

Response to this newest US decision, good or bad, has been reported from several countries outside the US but there has been no comments from the US political arena. Not one.

What does Senator Obama feel about this latest US abuse of power? Or Senator Clinton? Nothing yet from the office of Senator Kyl either although I imagine his stance would be in favor of whatever it takes to ‘git er done’ no matter what the implications of those actions might be. Will Senator Boxer be just as incensed at the abuse of power by the Bush administration in this contest as she was with White House initiated firings of 8 U.S. Attorneys? Unsurprisingly, there has been no comment from Peter Allgeier, the United States Ambassador to the World Trade Organization either.

The combination of actions against online gambling taken by the US government over the last year begs the question… How did online gambling get such a stigma that no abuse of power is too great, no violation or loss of rights as a citizen is contested, and persecution is not only tolerated but encouraged? I don’t have a satisfactory answer. Yet.

Staff Writer