Politicians continue to debate whether or not gambling should be legalized and as usual it has caused something of a rift between parties. While it is true that there are people from both sides fighting for its legalization and regulation, it is the Democratic Party in large part that has been making strides towards this change.

Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Jim McDermott, D-Wash., are leading a group that proposes to repeal the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act which is set to go into effect June 1^st. Their plan would legalize, regulate and tax the practice which they think is far more practical than trying to block out everything that goes on online.

“We have an activity going on illegally in this country and we're pretending it doesn't exist,'' McDermott said. Internet gambling ``people have said, `We want to be legal and we're certainly willing to pay taxes,' and we need the money. On every count, this is a net positive.''

Under their bill, a 6% tax would be levied on all deposits and paid to the state or tribal government the player resides in. In addition to that a 2% tax would be charged on all deposits for the federal government. It is estimated that if this bill went into effect that the government could see as much as $30 billion for states and tribal governments and $42 billion for the federal government in as little as a decade.

``This is a huge boon to the state governments,'' McDermott said. ``If you look across the country you're seeing programs cut. In Arizona, they just cut out a program for children's health for 40,000 kids. Here's a source of money'' that could keep such programs going.

Republicans have been mostly unanimously in opposition to online gambling becoming legalized. Senator Jon Kyl has for the past ten years practically made it his campaign to abolish online gambling. So too have many of the professional sports leagues and influential Christian groups.

At one time even land-based casinos appeared to be in opposition to the practice but now they are finally beginning to change their tune.

``The Internet, no matter how hard it tries, will never be able to substitute that personal interaction that guests desire and our team members provide,'' said Troy Stremming, the senior vice president of government relations and public affairs for Ameristar Casinos Inc.

Fahrenkopf, who was the chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1983 to 1989, agreed, “If there was going to be cannibalization, it's already taking place,'' he said. “Ten years ago, if we took a look at the financial statement of MGM Mirage, for example, 65 to 70 percent of its bottom line would've come from gaming revenue. Three years ago, it was 45 percent.”

Now that big business is behind online gambling being legalized, will Republicans finally change their tunes and start supporting legislation to legalize it? Time can only tell but for now gambling like most “moral” issues is stuck in the world of left or right and not what is best for our country.