Nice job, guys. Thanks to everybody who made the effort!
Internet Gambling Phone March on Capitol Hill Today a Success
written September 12, 2006
I spent several hours today tracking the volume of phone calls to different Senators' offices around the United States today and here is what I came up with.
In Virginia, at 3 PM EST, Senator Allen's office told me I was the 26th person to call voicing my dissatisfaction over HR 4411 and my other Senator's office, Senator Warner is reporting that perhaps two dozen people called to complain about the Internet gambling bill.
So, I got a little bit more daring and tried a bigger market, namely New York. I specifically asked for Hillary Clinton's office. Before I could get a word out of my mouth, her spokesman asked, Are you from the Poker alliance, calling about the Internet Gambling Bill?"
When I said, "no, I was against the sports betting part of it too," he said, "you are the 33rd person to call in the past hour alone!"
And he also stated, "I'd bet there have been over 100 calls to this office today about this issue." When I mentioned to him that he may not be able to use the "bet" word soon, we both starting laughing.
Getting more ambitious, I went out West to Senator Boxer's office in California. I was told about 50 people had called her office throughout the day but then again, it was only NOON over there.
Then I called Senator Richard Durbin's office in Illinois only to get a recording stating, "due to a high volume of calls, please try your call again."
So, I called the other Senator's office in Illinois, Senator Obama, and after I was put on hold for 5 minutes, a man answered the phone and we began talking. The spokes person doubted that the Internet Gambling Bill would come to the Senate floor this year, and said Obama hadn't taken a position on it and it was considered "low priority." He believed around 65 people had called the office before I had.
Last but not least, I called Senator John Cornyn's office in Texas, where a young lad and I got into a half hour debate after he told me the Senator was in support of the bill. The good news is he told me he had received between 100-200 calls today from people expressing opposition to the Internet Gambling bill. The bad news is that he was "clueless" and didn't know what he was talking about when we debated. Gosh, where is CNN when you need them?
Overall, it appears to me from scouting different areas of the country today that apparently, at least five thousand calls were made collectively to one hundred Senators.
Could it make a difference?
Judging from the offices I spoke to on the phone today, they all believed it can (except that guy from Cornyn's office).
It's really anyone's guess as to whether or not this bill is brought up before the Senate adjourns for the year which at the earliest is October 6, but may be extended.
For those who enjoy Internet Gambling, I sincerely believe that the "phone march" today was a great success but I wouldn't stop now.
I strongly advocate repeating this process once per week until the Senate recesses for good this year.
What about next Tuesday?
written by Kenneth Weitzner
Internet Gambling Phone March on Capitol Hill Today a Success
written September 12, 2006
I spent several hours today tracking the volume of phone calls to different Senators' offices around the United States today and here is what I came up with.
In Virginia, at 3 PM EST, Senator Allen's office told me I was the 26th person to call voicing my dissatisfaction over HR 4411 and my other Senator's office, Senator Warner is reporting that perhaps two dozen people called to complain about the Internet gambling bill.
So, I got a little bit more daring and tried a bigger market, namely New York. I specifically asked for Hillary Clinton's office. Before I could get a word out of my mouth, her spokesman asked, Are you from the Poker alliance, calling about the Internet Gambling Bill?"
When I said, "no, I was against the sports betting part of it too," he said, "you are the 33rd person to call in the past hour alone!"
And he also stated, "I'd bet there have been over 100 calls to this office today about this issue." When I mentioned to him that he may not be able to use the "bet" word soon, we both starting laughing.
Getting more ambitious, I went out West to Senator Boxer's office in California. I was told about 50 people had called her office throughout the day but then again, it was only NOON over there.
Then I called Senator Richard Durbin's office in Illinois only to get a recording stating, "due to a high volume of calls, please try your call again."
So, I called the other Senator's office in Illinois, Senator Obama, and after I was put on hold for 5 minutes, a man answered the phone and we began talking. The spokes person doubted that the Internet Gambling Bill would come to the Senate floor this year, and said Obama hadn't taken a position on it and it was considered "low priority." He believed around 65 people had called the office before I had.
Last but not least, I called Senator John Cornyn's office in Texas, where a young lad and I got into a half hour debate after he told me the Senator was in support of the bill. The good news is he told me he had received between 100-200 calls today from people expressing opposition to the Internet Gambling bill. The bad news is that he was "clueless" and didn't know what he was talking about when we debated. Gosh, where is CNN when you need them?
Overall, it appears to me from scouting different areas of the country today that apparently, at least five thousand calls were made collectively to one hundred Senators.
Could it make a difference?
Judging from the offices I spoke to on the phone today, they all believed it can (except that guy from Cornyn's office).
It's really anyone's guess as to whether or not this bill is brought up before the Senate adjourns for the year which at the earliest is October 6, but may be extended.
For those who enjoy Internet Gambling, I sincerely believe that the "phone march" today was a great success but I wouldn't stop now.
I strongly advocate repeating this process once per week until the Senate recesses for good this year.
What about next Tuesday?
written by Kenneth Weitzner
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