One minute it’s there and the next it’s all gone. Isn’t that just like gambling? Yesterday we talked about Senator Ron Wyden’s proposed bill to legalize and regulate online gambling for the purposes of subsidizing health care costs. That bill has been pulled and the senator has moved on to greener pastures, looking for other ways to pay other people’s bills with other people’s money.

The reason seems to be that healthcare reform is controversial enough as it is and bringing online gambling to the table too is apparently tantamount to proposing abortion or euthanasia to help fund healthcare. And because current healthcare reform seems more about getting something passed than getting something passed that works, the last thing anybody wants to do is raise eyebrows.

“The last thing Senator Wyden wants to do is make it more difficult to expand subsidies for working families by introducing a new contentious issue to the debate,” said Jennifer Hoelzer, Wyden’s communications director. “So when he offers the amendment, he will do it with other funding mechanisms.”

“Changing the laws regarding online gaming is a significant detour from healthcare, a detour that Senator Reid agrees is not appropriate at this time,” said Regan LaChapelle, spokesman for Harry Reid.

Though Senator Wyden’s feet were cold enough to pull the bill, that didn’t stop others from voicing their support.

“Money’s money. If that’s the price we pay, that’s the price,” said Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.). “I would consider adding it.”

Barney Frank, who has been the poster child for legalized online gambling for quite some time now also agrees that the bill was a good idea. “It’s a great idea,” Frank said. “Why should we leave all that money untaxed?”

While I continue to hope that someday online gambling will be legalized in the US, I find it disturbing that the only reason the government will legalize it is for financial gain. Playing a game and doing as they wish with their own money (as long as it doesn’t harm anyone else) is or should be every American’s right. It’s a shame that those rights are now considered on their financial merits and not on the wishes and hopes of the country’s citizens. Just my two cents.

When the average person goes on a job interview, they are on their best behavior and the same goes for just about every politician out there (save Ross Perot and Ron Paul). When politicians run their campaign, they will tell the American people anything and everything to secure their vote and despite years and years of broken promises, the good-hearted, trusting people of America buy the political snake oil. Take for example, Herbert Hoover’s pledge to end poverty. FDR’s pledge to maintain a balanced budget and to refrain from significantly increasing taxes. Richard Nixon’s pledge to quickly resolve the Vietnam War. Or remember George Bush’s (the first one) now infamous “Read my lips! No new taxes!” Yeah right.

Enter Barack Obama. The man is dynamite behind the podium. His charismatic approach and message of hope and change excited democrats and converted some republicans (or more than likely George W. Bush sent them running into his arms). With the message of big change comes big promises. Among them, to see that every American has health insurance. Another, not to raise taxes on working class Americans who make less than $250,000. And the American people fell for it. Again. Another charismatic guy with a message of hope, another promise too big for anyone to keep. The latest plan the president is hawking involves required health insurance for all citizens which will be paid via collection from the IRS (now I guess they’re just an automated bill-pay service?). If citizens fail to get the insurance, they are fined $3,000. And he says this is not a tax increase. One of the ways the government is looking to subsidize this “non-tax” is through the legalization and regulation of online gambling.

The U.S. Senate Finance Committee is considering an amendment that would legalize online gambling in hopes of funding a reformed U.S health care system. Senator Ron Wyden proposed the amendment which would dedicate the income from government regulated online gambling to subsidizing health care costs. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers estimation, the regulation of online gambling could generate somewhere in the neighborhood of $6 billion per year.

Michael Waxman, of the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative praised the idea stating, “We applaud Senator Wyden’s proposal to collect and put to good use tens of billions in Internet gambling revenue that would otherwise be lost in the underground marketplace.”

“The Senate Finance Committee should approve the 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.”

Of course, $6 billion dollars in online gambling money is nowhere near the amount needed to fund a health care system aimed at insuring over 300,000,000 Americans. So this would work sort of like the post office, which hemorrhages money year after year, but is kept afloat with our tax dollars. In this case, the government would take the online gambling tax money and any other money they can get their grubby little hands on, and send it health care’s way, until they realize it’s not enough and raise the federal income tax. It’s not the first time the government low-balled an estimate to get it past the American people. Take Medicare: Predicted cost in 1970 was $3 billion per year. Actual cost? $6.8 billion. The predicted cost by 1990? $10 billion. The actual cost of Medicare by 1990? $110 billion.

With that in mind, will $6 billion in online gambling funds even make a dent in our nation’s health care? Or is it just another smoke screen to ease people’s minds so that they won’t think about it. What do you folks think out there? Real solution or smokescreen?

There’s been a lot of talk about health care lately. Everyone is weighing in on the subject it seems, but few can seem to agree on a solution. Some democrats want a “public option” which essentially translates to planting the seed for a complete government takeover of our health care system (If you don’t believe me, look at the public school system. That is an “option” too. You can always spend $10,000 a year to send your kid to private school after you’ve paid taxes toward the public school “option.”). Other democrats are for supporting a health care reform bill without a public option, which would essentially mean putting more rules in place for private industry to navigate through which will eventually drive costs up. Republicans are for reform as well, but there aren’t enough of them in office right now to do anything about their ideas.

While the house squabbles, poker players have figured out a way to find an affordable health care option. The World Poker Association is now offering all of its members a comprehensive health care plan in addition to lots of other benefits.

In an interview with Poker News Daily, “Captain” Tom Franklin, Chairman of the World Poker Association (WPA) said, “Anyone who is a member of the WPA can get it. They can call up, say that they’re a member of the WPA, and ask how much it costs. When we get to 20 or 30 players taking advantage of it, we can have the best pricing possible. A lot of poker players don’t have the opportunity to receive any other health insurance since they don’t have a formal job. The insurance we receive is pretty reasonable. You can get really good comprehensive insurance for $350 per month.”

Perhaps if more organizations took this stance, health care wouldn’t be such a problem? Instead, people put their education, mail, cars, safety, and many already put their health care in the hands of the imperial federal government. The same government that won’t allow its citizens to play poker online or in person. The same government that seizes funds from its citizens for winning a jackpot.

Our president claims that there are 50 million or depending on the day, 46 or 47 million people within our borders who are uninsured. But nobody asks how many of these people are illegal immigrants (who already get free health care and close hospitals doing it)? How many of these people are insured through someone else? How many of these people are insured by medicaid, medicare, or one of the other government-funded health insurance programs? And for those who “can’t afford” health insurance, how many of them have cable or satellite TV? How many of them make payments on new cars? How many of them go out to eat every week? Such people choose to spend money on things besides health care. The federal government already pays around 40% of the nation’s medical bills already.

In addition to health insurance, the WPA website lists other services offered such as estate and retirement planning, life insurance, identity theft insurance and investments. Imagine that, a private organization finding a solution for its members? That’s crazy. How did these evil poker players ever figure out how to take care of themselves without the government stepping in and solving all of their problems? Poker is an exercise in risk management and most poker players know that not having health care is too great a risk for a responsible person to have.