FUNDING HEALTH CARE WITH GAMING TAX REVENUES - Posted by KatA 

As the debate over online gaming regulation rages on, one senator has stepped up with a possible solution that could please everyone. Unfortunately, while he proposed a great idea, he took it back before it could go to a vote. American senator Ron Wyden proposed a bill last week that would use Internet gambling tax revenue to help fund health care reform. Senator Wyden’s bill suggested putting online gaming tax revenues towards low-income subsidies provided by ‘America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009’. These tax dollars would of course only become available once online gaming was legalized and properly regulated. Michael Waxman, spokesperson for the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative felt that Wyden’s bill had the power to go through and increase the odds that online gaming could be legalized: "The Senate Finance Committee should approve this resolution, finally putting to an end a failed prohibition on Internet gambling that leaves Americans unprotected and unlicensed offshore operators as the only beneficiary in a thriving marketplace." According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers, the US would become quite a profitable beneficiary if they’d approve the regulation and taxation of online gaming. Their analysis showed that over the next decade, Internet Gambling taxes would net the US $62.7 billion. Wyden’s bill was proposed quietly last weekend but survived for only six days before being taken back on Wednesday. Wyden’s communication director Jennifer Hoelzer explains: "The last thing Sen. Wyden wants to do is make it more difficult to expand subsidies for working families by introducing a new contentious issue to the debate. So when he offers the amendment, he will do it with other funding mechanisms." Regan LaChapelle, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid further explains: "Changing the laws regarding online gaming is a significant detour from healthcare, a detour that Sen. Reid agrees is not appropriate at this time." Although the bill has been taken off the table, the mere fact that it was proposed at all is a good sign for the future of online gaming.