Online Gambling, Offshore Drilling and the Complexity of Obamacare

1. CONSUMER

This week the House Financial Services Committee passed H.R. 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Policy Analyst Michelle Minton cautiously praises the move as a step towards legalization of online gambling.

“Four years after Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act – a confusing and ineffective banking regulation – we’re glad that members of the House Financial Services Committee have recognized the need to bring Internet gambling out of the underground.”

2. ENERGY

Today the House of Representatives will vote on an energy bill that would effectively shutdown offshore drilling in the U.S.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Director of Energy Policy Myron Ebell on the destructive consequences that will result if this bill passes. 

“Shutting down an entire sector of the nation’s energy infrastructure to placate environmentalists might seem politically expedient at the moment, but the future costs and job losses will tell another story.”

3. HEALTHCARE

Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) releases a chart that visually demonstrates the complexity of Obamacare.

CEI Expert Available to Comment: Journalism Fellow Ryan Young on the grandiose intricacy of Obamacare. 

“This chart was released by Rep. Kevin Brady, a partisan Republican. But whatever your politics, you should be wary of any scheme as grandiose as Obamacare. This represents a re-ordering of one sixth of the American economy. And not only is the government tasked with making this flow chart flow smoothly. It is also tasked with fighting two land wars in Asia. With delivering the mail. With developing new energy technologies. With overhauling the nation’s entire financial system. No organization can do all those things and do them well. Doesn’t matter how talented and well-meaning the people behind it are. It is beyond the limits of anyone’s ability to plan.”