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John Isner and Nicolas Mahut competed in the longest tennis match in Wimbledon history yesterday battling it out for more than eleven hours. The effect that the game has had on sports fans across the world is startling and US Representative Vern Buchanan is hoping to use some of that buzz to make a point to US residents that online gambling is in need of regulation.
Using Twitter to reach out to his followers he informed them that in the time it took the two tennis pros to play their interminable five set, the US national debt rose by more than $1.7 billion.
"Think Wimbledon tickets are expensive?" he said. "Our National Debt has gone up by $1,729,000,000 during the Isner v. Mahut match #USA."
Figures from a Pricewaterhousecoopers study state that the US could claim over $50 billion in a little under a decade if they regulated Internet gambling. Despite this, many legislators continue to resist passing legislation that could help address the rapidly climbing national debt.
Representative Jim McDermott has made the case that banning online casinos has done little to affect the demand for online gambling, but it has kept the US government from collecting billions of dollars in tax revenue.
Isher showed remarkable tenacity in earning his win at Wimbledon and it may take equal tenacity from lawmakers like McDermott and Barney Frank to establish the regulation necessary to promote a lasting change in the country's outlook on online gambling. Buchanan makes an excellent point that regulation can no longer be ignored. We need to get a move on and tell our representatives that we are serious about legalizing online gambling.
Call or write to your government officials today. Time is of the essence!
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