American’s for Tax Reform, a Washington D.C. organization known for their fight against higher taxes in the US, have sided up with the civil rights advocacy group The Blue Grass Institute of Kentucky in hopes of overturning the Circuit Court ruling that legitimized KY governor Beshear’s claims that domain names could be seized as gambling devices.
Representative and spokesman for ATR Grover Norquist spoke out on the issue in an interview with a report from pokernewsdaily.com.
Norquist defined himself as a “friend of freedom,” and stated that such blantant overextention of jurisdiction by the government here was more than just an assault on poker. “It was an assault on property rights, an assault on the internet…” he said.
Norquist believes that such an attempt, especially by the state of Kentucky, is not only absurd but also hypocritical. “Kentucky is a state that makes a lot of money off horse racing. States have lotteries. Evidently some people’s idea of morality is that they don’t mind something unless they’re not cut in on it.”
And that’s what Norquist believes is the root of the problem. The fact is that if the domain names were actually forfeited to the state of Kentucky, then as property of the state, any revenue from them would be taxable and payable to the state as well.
When you look at the money involved, it makes quite a bit more sense that from a greed driven stand point. Though any self respecting constitutionalist would see such acts as abhorrent.
But you can rest easy, as Norquist all but guarantees that the decision will be appealed. Coupled with the Poker Player Alliance efforts as well as iMEGA gaming’s lobbying and amicus support, Norquist feels confident that “online poker will win in Kentucky.” However, he says the path won’t be easy, but still he’s confident that the gaming industry will prevail.
