WTO
Organized crime causes nuclear war – Dobriansky says international crime causes violent
acts and poses threats to global stability – means groups are able to acquire and use WMD
– that escalates – card is not that great but is simply not answered
Federal regulation solves best – it’s self-sufficient and saves US financial institutions and
the dollar which destroys the global econ
Leonard 9 -- JD Candidate @ Drake Univ Law (Brant, 2009, "NOTE: HIGHLIGHTING THE DRAWBACKS OF
THE UIGEA: PROPOSED RULES REVEAL HEAVY BURDENS," 57 Drake L. Rev. 515, L/N)
In order to understand the proposed rules recently published for the implementation of the UIGEA, it is important to understand what they were
meant to do. The enactment of the UIGEA put U.S. financial institutions on notice of a coming burden, but left the
particulars to the Federal Reserve Board and Treasury Department, which would jointly publish rules and
regulations for the implementation of the UIGEA. n154 Commentators agree that due to the shift in regulatory responsibility from traditional
the economic impact on U.S. financial institutions will be extremely
burdensome . n155 However, after the enactment of the UIGEA, but before the proposed regulations were published, U.S. financial
institutions were left with many unanswered questions about the specifics of that burden - questions that the proposed
rules would ideally answer. n156 As it turned out, the proposed rules answered some questions while leaving some important
ones unanswered. n157 Through an analysis of these questions and attempted answers, one can more clearly see that the difficulty in
drafting rules for implementation reflects more fundamental problems with the UIGEA itself. The concerns of U.S. financial
institutions were, and still are, widespread. As an initial matter, financial institutions were concerned with the problems of enforcement
law enforcement to U.S. financial institutions,
already articulated in this Note. The majority [*537] of Internet gamblers do not use direct transacting practices from their own U.S. bank
accounts to online casinos, but rather take advantage of offshore third-party payment processors like PayPal or Neteller, commonly referred to as
"e-wallets." n158 The existence of e-wallets left several unanswered questions following the initial enactment of the UIGEA. The most
fundamental of these questions simply inquired as to whether e-wallets were included in the term "designated payment system" under the
UIGEA, and would thus potentially subject U.S. financial institutions to liability if they forwarded funds to these accounts, and the accounts
were, in turn, used in conjunction with online gaming. The main concern is clear - if e-wallets are included, the burden of policing is much more
extensive. In short, if these types of third-party accounts are included as "designated payment systems," financial institutions must concern
themselves with what the money is used for once they have transmitted it to an e-wallet account operated by a third-party entity. For the rule
makers, this issue, like many other concerns, points toward the central difficulty in drafting rules for implementation of the UIGEA. The
broader the rules are made, the greater the burden (and uncertainty) that is placed on U.S. financial
institutions. On the other hand, the narrower the rules, the less impact the UIGEA is likely to have on prohibiting
online gaming. This, like several drafting difficulties, points toward the fundamental problem with the enforcement
mechanism of the UIGEA itself. Because the UIGEA relies on financial institutions to police Internet casinos, the decision on each rule
posits a choice between creating a larger burden on U.S. financial institutions or making the prohibition less effective in practice. On this front,
however, the proposed rules do answer the question of whether e-wallets are included, and the answer is yes. n159 In fact, the rules make mention
of PayPal as an example of a "money transmitting business." n160 While there is an answer, it is troubling for U.S. financial institutions because
of the difficulty in monitoring e-wallets. E-wallets are typically offshore businesses that nearly always make use of foreign banks. n161 As a
result, the burden on U.S. financial institutions extends [*538] beyond policing their own transactions with e-wallets and now forces them to deal
with the uncertainty of whether they must police transactions between other institutions and e-wallets, which may ultimately lead to online
gaming transactions. On this front, the proposed rules provide some guidance, but leave U.S. financial institutions largely uncertain about their
duties under the UIGEA. The proposed rules make clear that for two types of payment systems that have the benefit of merchant coding - card
systems and money transmitting systems - U.S. financial institutions will carry the burden of monitoring extended
transactions. n162 With respect to check collection and wire transfer systems, some of these types of extended transactions will be exempt
from the UIGEA's imposition of duty. n163 In the case of outgoing transactions to foreign banks, the exemption applies. However, with respect
to incoming requests from foreign institutions, the first U.S. institution to participate in the transaction does have the burden of investigating and
putting procedures in place to discover and block any transaction related to online gaming. n164 Again, the answer is not good news for
U.S. financial institutions, as their burden of policing the online gaming industry extends further than initially
expected with respect to extended transactions. As will be discussed later, even with respect to those exempted transactions, the difficult
question of determining which non-exempted transactions are illegal remains. Further, the answer again points toward the
fundamental problem posed by the enforcement mechanism of the UIGEA itself. With respect to outgoing transactions,
the burden is presumably too great, and therefore an exemption applies. As a result, this would seem to provide a funding avenue for bettors to
continue to gamble online. With respect to incoming requests, policing is required to some extent. This effectively enforces the aim of the
UIGEA, but in turn places a larger burden on U.S. financial institutions that are already charged with the task of monitoring payments related to
Internet pornography and terrorism. n165 A second problem posed by e-wallets has a lesser impact on the costs of monitoring but a greater
impact on the costs incurred by over- [*539] deterrence. E-wallets, like PayPal, are often used to mix legal and illegal transactions. n166
Therefore, a U.S. financial institution concerned with blocking payments through e-wallets may intend to block an Internet bet while actually
blocking a legitimate Internet purchase. Thus, the burden of deciphering what type of transaction is being made with an e-wallet creates a
significant increase in the monitoring burden of U.S. financial institutions. n167 The proposed rules seem to establish this heightened burden with
its (at least partial) inclusion of e-wallets in the definition of designated payment systems. n168 A second concern of U.S. financial institutions,
particularly banks, was whether they would be saddled with the burden of monitoring personal checks. One source notes that this would amount
to the manual inspection of approximately forty billion checks per year. n169 Fortunately, the proposed rules give good news to U.S. financial
institutions by creating an exemption for personal paper checks. n170 While this is good news for U.S. financial institutions, it again points
toward the internal tension in the UIGEA. The inclusion of personal checks would create an overwhelming burden on U.S. banks, and therefore,
personal checks are exempted. On the other hand, the exclusion allows online gaming to continue through certain channels. A more central
concern to the U.S. financial institutions is what is meant by "unlawful Internet gambling." As written, the UIGEA gives no specific definition,
but rather relies on state and federal law to determine what is "unlawful." n171 Following the enactment of the UIGEA, the primary concern of
U.S. financial institutions was whether a specific definition would be given by the proposed rules, or whether the burden [*540] would be on the
institutions to determine if a given transaction is legal or illegal under the laws of many differing jurisdictions. This seems a fair question
considering that the Fifth Circuit and the DOJ disagreed over what gaming activities are unlawful under the Wire Act. n172 Unfortunately for
U.S. financial institutions, the proposed rules fail to give a more specific definition of unlawful Internet gaming. The rules instead defer to the
language of the UIGEA itself stating, "The proposed rule does not specify which gambling activities or transactions are legal or illegal because
the Act itself defers to underlying State and Federal gambling laws in that regard ... ." n173 In addition to the problems associated with
interpreting the law of many different jurisdictions, determining what is unlawful is further intensified by the UIGEA's express exemptions for
intrastate, intratribal, and interstate horseracing transactions. n174 It is arguable that by burdening U.S. financial institutions
with the responsibility of determining what is legal and illegal among numerous state and federal gaming
laws, as well as the responsibility to identify and block restricted transactions, the UIGEA rules , as proposed,
result in an appropriation of private resources for government purposes. After all, the proposed rules give no clear definition, leaving financial
institutions to study and interpret the laws of numerous jurisdictions. Again, the rule makers were forced to choose between heightening the
burden on the financial institutions and negatively affecting the impact the UIGEA will have on Internet gaming - a result that is caused by the
fundamental nature of the UIGEA's enforcement mechanism. Given the uncertainty inherent in the UIGEA's rules, it is no surprise that U.S.
financial institutions are speaking out in the wake of the proposed rules. n175 The Financial Services Roundtable, representing many U.S.
financial institutions, states that the UIGEA, under the proposed rules, forces financial services entities to perform police functions more [*541]
appropriate for law enforcement agencies. n176 Bank of America has stated that it will be forced to block legitimate transactions in an attempt to
enforce an ambiguous law. n177 Further, counsel for the American Bankers Association has characterized the UIGEA's provision under the
proposed rules as a "compliance trap." n178 The concern of U.S. financial institutions saddled with this additional burden in light of the proposed
rules has not gone unnoticed by Congress. In a December 2006 letter to the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve, sixteen Representatives
criticized the proposed rules as overbroad and ambiguous. n179 Because the proposed rules provide no clearer definition of what an illegal
transaction is, U.S. financial institutions are saddled with an incredible burden. It is up to the institutions, not law
enforcement personnel, to put an end to online gaming. The amount of resources necessary to investigate each
transaction in order to determine if it violates the laws of one or more of over fifty jurisdictions is sure to weigh heavily on U.S.
financial institutions. Aside from the resources that must be expended by financial institutions, slowing down the payment processing
function of the U.S. economy could have devastating implications. For example, Internet stock market trading is
a time-sensitive industry that relies heavily on the speed and ease with which transactions can be processed.
Under the proposed rules, it is likely that the serious burden of policing transactions will slow the payment processing
systems of U.S. financial institutions, thus impacting other Internet industries. Further, as one commentor suggested,
slowing down the payment processing systems of U.S. financial institutions could have disastrous
implications for the continuation of the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency . n180 The final major question left
to U.S. financial institutions regards the cost of implementation and maintenance of the required policing structures. The question remained after
initial enactment of the UIGEA whether any appropriations for implementing the compelled regulatory systems would be made. Under the
proposed rule, it appears that any cost [*542] of implementing and maintaining the policing functions will rest solely
with the financial institutions
Nuclear war results from dollar collapse
Porter 6 (Dave , Director of Business Development-Structures at General Dynamics, “Oregon Steel”, Blue Oregon,
12-8, http://www.blueoregon.com/2006/12/ff_oregon_steel.html)
There could be a soft landing or a domestic and international disaster. As Clyde Prestowitz in "Three Billion New Capitalists: The Great Shift of
Wealth and Power to the East" writes: "The nightmare scenario - an economic 9/11 - is a sudden, massive sell-off of dollars; a world financial
panic whose trigger might be as minor, relatively speaking, as the assassination of a second-rate archduke in a third-rate European city. A
collapse of the dollar and its consequent abandonment as the world's reserve currency would create a deep recession in the U nited
S tates. Gas and fuel prices would soar, anything imported would suddenly become much more expensive, interest rates
would jump, as would unemployment. The "stagflation" of the 1970's - slow growth and high unemployment combined with double-digit
interest rates-would look like a walk in the park. And since the United States is at present the world's only major net importer, all of the
exporters that depend on it for their economic stability would suffer severely as well. It's the thought of these consequences that make the
big dollar holders so nervous, and makes them, for now, hold on to their excess dollars." Our economy has been totally mismanged and it's scary.
And beyond the worldwide economic ruin, international cooperation would break down and wars would erupt. Peoples around the world would
be so vulnerable and angry that they would blame and envy their neighbors. I am particularly concerned about China-US relations
during the rest of the 21st century. Both countries would be under severe stress in such a scenario. Nuclear exchanges
would not be impossible. As I have argued in our proposal "Developing the China Connection through Educational Programs," we need to
give our children the skills to get through such a crisis.
The plan helps the economy – the status quo makes their impact inevitable – regulation increases jobs and
revenue
Boikess 8 (Lisa – associate in the New York office of Ropes & Gray, LLP, “THE UNLAWFUL INTERNET
GAMBLING ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 2006: THE PITFALLS OF PROHIBITION”, 2008, 12 N.Y.U. J. Legis. &
Pub. Pol'y 151, lexis)
B. Economic Consequences of Online Gambling While socially conservative individuals may point to the negative social effects of online
Banning , rather than regulating,
Internet gambling unduly restricts consumer freedom n175 and eliminates valuable tax revenue to the government, along
with jobs and business opportunities . n176 For example, once the UIGEA passed, several international publicly traded
online gaming companies went out of business after losing billions of dollars in revenue. n177 By regulating
online gambling , the U.S. could become involved in this lucrative billion dollar business through either
public or private gambling companies. Not only does the UIGEA ban sacrifice potential profits for a moral stand
but, if interpreted too strictly, n178 it will also cost the U.S. important informational benefits . Prohibition eliminates
forms of online gambling that benefit the U.S. economy by providing better information through marketmaking . n179 For example, Tradesports.com and Intrade.com make markets for predicting political, financial,
economic, and other current events which yield more accurate forecasts [*181] than polling methods and can
improve decision-making by governments, nonprofit organizations, and the private sector . n180 In support of the argument for
gambling, moderate libertarians claim that it is better for society to avoid government intrusion.
regulation rather than prohibition, moderate libertarians may also point to the fact that unregulated online gambling does not offer the same
With billions
of dollars gambled each year on unregulated websites , state governments are forced to compete with online
gambling sites for gaming revenue. n182 Similar to the regulation of land-based casinos, regulation of Internet
gambling sites could recoup this substantial loss of tax revenue.
economic benefits as regulated U.S. land-based casinos, which provide jobs and tax revenues and legally protect bettors. n181
Kindt doesn’t provide any factual justification for his claims
Stradbrooke 10 [Steven Stradbrooke, staff writer for gambling news site Calvin Ayre, December 11, 2010, “DO
WE NEED AN ONLINE GAMBLING MEDIA GUIDE TO COMBAT DISINFORMATION?”,
http://calvinayre.com/2010/12/11/business/online-gambling-media-guide-to-combat-disinformation/]
When an unfamiliar subject comes over the news wire, media sources immediately start looking for ‘experts’
to help them explain the news to their audiences. But modern journalists/teleprompter-readers operating under
the 24-hour news cycle’s ever-ticking timetable often choose to go with whatever ‘expert’ source they used last
time, or the one their competitor used, rather than taking the time to track down and consult with an actual
expert. Which leads us to professor John W. Kindt… We’ve mentioned Kindt before on this site, as he ’s the
go-to guy for anti-gambling hysteria , a mantle the Focus On The Family hatchet man is only too happy to wear.
Kindt — the original source of the ‘online gambling = crack cocaine” meme – resurfaced this week to condemn
Sen. Reid’s poker bill. Kindt claims that Reid’s bill would create “a huge social problem where none existed
before” and “further destabilize our financial system” because banks would lose liquidity as gamblers withdrew
money to send to online gambling sites. In Kindt’s eyes, this money simply evaporates , with no economic
benefit to anyone except the evil gambling operators, which conveniently ignores the fact that gambling
operators need to hire large numbers of staff to process these transactions. By Kindt’s definition, paying
your rent would also contribute to this economic destabilization, as the money benefits no one but those evil
landlords. Kindt is especially worried by the concept of mobile betting, saying it would be “a recipe for
economic disaster” in which “personal bankruptcies and people addicted to gambling would just absolutely soar.”
As usual, Kindt does not provide – nor is asked by his media enablers to provide – any factual justification for
these claims. *sigh* The classic media dictum is that “dog bites man” is not a story, whereas “man bites dog” is
front page news. So if some morbidly obese Kentuckian gets so wrapped up in her slot machine that she chooses to
relieve herself in her pants rather than walk the 20 feet to the ladies’ room, the story will always find a home on
media websites. But a hyperlink entitled ‘Grandmother plays slots for an hour, then joins friends for dinner and a
Céline Dion performance’ isn’t going to convince anyone to click through. Now, that gambling granny by far
represents the overwhelming majority of gamblers’ experiences, but, as the cliché says, if it bleeds (or shits itself), it
leads. CalvinAyre.com has previously spotlighted studies that fly in the face of accepted media logic regarding
gambling , including the John Hopkins study that showed gambling was the least addictive ‘vice’ ( backed up
by real world data that showed underperforming gambling stocks dragging down the value of other so-called
‘vice’ funds). Or the Canadian study that showed gambling was not the dreaded scourge of the lower classes, but
rather that gambling behavior actually increased both in participation levels and expenditures the further up
an individual was on the socio-economic ladder.
Lots of factors prevent great power conflict without hegemony
Fettweis 10 (Christopher J. Professor of Political Science at Tulane, Dangerous Times-The International Politics of
Great Power Peace, pg. 175-6)
If the only thing standing between the world and chaos is the US military presence, then an adjustment in grand strategy would be
exceptionally counter-productive. But it is worth recalling that none
of the other explanations for the decline of
war – nuclear weapons, complex economic interdependence , international and domestic
political institutions , evolution in ideas and norms – necessitate an activist America to
maintain their validity. Were American to become more restrained, nuclear weapons
would still affect the calculations of the would be aggressor; the process of globalization
would continue, deepening the complexity of economic interdependence; the United Nations
could still deploy peacekeepers where necessary; and democracy would not shrivel where it currently exists.
More importantly, the idea that war is a worthwhile way to resolve conflict would have no reason
to return. As was argued in chapter 2, normative evolution is typically unidirectional. Strategic restraint in such a world be virtually
risk free.
Laundering
Online gambling fuels organized crime and terror –but regulation solves
Sparrow 9 (Malcolm K. Sparrow (Professor of the Practice of Public Management—Harvard's John F. Kennedy
School of Government); “Can Internet Gambling Be Effectively Regulated? Managing the Risks”; December 2,
2009; http://financialservices.house.gov/media/file/hearings/111/sparrow.pdf)
E. Money Laundering by Players A major concern of law-enforcement authorities is money laundering facilitated by online
gambling . However, many financial analysts believe that the risks of money laundering in online gambling is low because electronic transactions are closely monitored and recorded. A combination of anti-moneylaundering regulations, currently in place for bricks-and-mortar casinos as well as other financial institutions, and the use of technology would provide the online gambling
environment with better opportunities for detecting money laundering by players than those available in land- and
river-based casinos. 1. The Issue of Money Laundering by Players Money laundering is a process through which proceeds derived from
illegal activity are legitimized. Money laundering is typically accomplished in three stages: (1) the placement stage, (2) the
layering stage, and (3) the integration stage. The placement stage is defined as the first entry of illegal money into financial institutions or the retail
economy. The layering stage consists of activities meant to hide the trail of money, generally involving the transfer of money among multiple entities. The final stage, the
integration stage, is when the illegal funds are reintroduced into the economy to appear as though they were legitimate. It is
difficult for law enforcement to detect this reintroduction of illicit funds into the economy without an audit trail established
during the first two stages of the laundering process. The following (hypothetical) example demonstrates how online gambling websites can be used to launder money: A customer could
establish an Internet gambling account under a false name and use illicit funds to conduct a minimal amount of betting. After a few losses, the
customer could request repayment from the Internet gambling site and claim them as winnings, thereby creating a legitimate source
for the remaining funds. The U.S. Department of Justice is concerned that online gambling offers criminals an easy vehicle for money
laundering because of its anonymous nature, use of encryption, volume, speed, international reach, and offshore
locations.142 In his testimony before Congress in 2003, Deputy Assistant Attorney General John G. Malcolm noted that e-casinos are an excellent vehicle for money laundering because in addition to using the gambling
services offered to hide or transfer money, online gambling websites offer a wide variety of financial services to their customers, including credit accounts, fund transmittal services, check cashing services, and currency exchange
services.143 There is little documentation by which to gauge the extent of actual money laundering in online gambling. In 2002, the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) examined the vulnerability of online gambling to money
laundering and concluded that the "views on the vulnerability of Internet gambling to money laundering are mixed."144 Its report provides only hypothetical examples of how online gambling sites could be used to launder money and
does not describe any actual cases. A 2005 report prepared for the Interactive Gaming Council in Canada calls evidence of the existence of money laundering in online gambling "scant" and claims that the Internet Crime Complaint
Center had never logged a complaint of money laundering through gambling sites.145 It goes on to claim that "Internet gaming does not, in and of itself, contribute to money laundering. Rather, it is the financial transactions that are
used to move money on the Internet that may be susceptible to money laundering."146 One can understand money laundering patterns that might occur in online gambling by extrapolating from the patterns of money laundering seen
in bricks-and-mortar casinos. Various betting patterns associated with money laundering in bricks-and-mortar casinos have been identified, including the use of hedged bets by colluding players, light betting or minimal play (i.e.,
using bets that are small relative to the size of deposits and withdrawals), splitting transactions up into units smaller than reporting thresholds, splitting transactions across reporting "days," and pressuring staff to not comply with their
reporting obligations.147
A problem related to money laundering is that of terrorist financing , in which funds that are intended for terrorist groups are moved through
the financial system in an apparently legitimate way. Effective anti-money-laundering provisions must specifically address the risks of terrorist financing, although many techniques to combat money laundering are also effective
against terrorist financing.148 The only known case of money laundering through gambling sites was related to terrorist financing: in 2007, a suspected terrorist named Al-Daour used stolen credit cards to deposit funds at 43 different
gambling sites and then withdrew the winnings to various online bank accounts.149 2. Existing Controls in Other Jurisdictions Congress has enacted legislation to detect money laundering. Under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) of 1970,
all U.S. financial institutions, including banks, credit unions, securities firms, and casinos, are required to report large currency transactions and suspicious activities.150 The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
administers these regulations. The casino gambling industry has been covered by the BSA since 1985, and FinCEN has specific regulations that pertain to casino gaming. The BSA requires the reporting of any currency transactions
exceeding $10,000 in a single gaming day on a Currency Transaction Report (CTR). 151 Because money launderers can structure transactions such that they never result in a CTR being filed, all land- and river-based casinos are also
required to file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs). Casinos have to file SARs if they know, suspect, or have reason to suspect that a transaction involving $5,000 or more meets certain criteria, including involvement of illicit funds,
intention to avoid or prevent proper reporting, exhibiting of abnormal behavior, or use of the casino to facilitate criminal activity.152 The leading online gambling jurisdictions have created regulatory structures that resemble
traditional regulation for land- and river-based casinos in the United States. These jurisdictions require some form of anti-money-laundering monitoring, ranging from restricting customers to a single account to identifying and
reporting suspicious transactions or players' abnormal betting patterns.153 In addition to regulation that combats money laundering in its financial services sector, the Isle of Man has put in place the Anti-Money Laundering Code to
prevent money laundering through gambling websites.154 Operators are required to comply with strict anti-money-laundering procedures, which include identification of prospective customers, evidence of identity, changes to
patterns of transactions, record keeping, records of transactions, retention of records, reporting suspicious transactions, and training. In addition, site operators are legally required to report any suspicious transactions to the Financial
Crime Unit (FCU). Specialized software can flag these transactions. Similarly, to combat money laundering, Alderney requires operators of online gambling websites to implement business risk assessments, customer due diligence
An
anti-money-laundering regulatory regime for online gambling may be modeled on the current regulatory structure
for traditional bricks-and-mortar casinos. A regulatory framework for online gambling may leverage the
technological environment for online gambling and require (1) preservation of an audit trail of transactions for analysis by federal authorities; (2)
implementation of customer identification standards; (3) controls to prevent anonymous, structured transactions; (4) establishment
of an anti-money-laundering compliance program; (5) training for all appropriate personnel; and (6) compliance with all
relevant BSA requirements. The IGC notes that "online gambling, with a combination of regulatory oversight and use of
technology—while facing the same threats as real-world gambling facilities—is in a better position to address these
risks." For example, all electronic fund transfers can be electronically recorded, thus providing a detailed and automatic
transaction trail not currently available in land- and river-based casinos. The IGC further notes that a basic requirement to combat money laundering is to "know
your customer." Stringent player registrations and ongoing verification processes combined with appropriate
regulatory oversight and banking regulations help fulfill this requirement. Italy's regulatory regime, for example, requires a potential customer to submit a
signed contract along with a copy of his or her identification. Tasmania requires strong identity verificationprocedures to be in place on player accounts. Moreover, technology can equip site
operators with tools to scrutinize inconsistent player behavior , and then capture and report the transaction. Another
essential anti-money-laundering measure noted by the IGC is to require that gamblers be paid any winnings in the same way
in which the money was originally deposited. This system allows an audit to track transfers of funds much more easily
and removes the ability of launderers to use an account as a pass-through for funds.
procedures, monitoring of transactions and other activity, suspicious activity reporting procedures, employee screening and training procedures, and record-keeping procedures. 3. Relevant Technologies for Risk Mitigation
2AC – Resolution Spec
No resolutional basis – res says legalize – we do – anything else is unpredictable and
infinitely regressive – crowds out the aff because we could have always speced more CX
and solvency advocates check
Aff ground – their interp leads to infinite PIC debates – makes it impossible to be aff
Neg ground – key to legalize generics, too many reg mechanisms and decrim CP solves
Reasonability
Legalize means tax and regulate – we defend that
Ford 13 (Brian, JD @ Golden Gate Univ. School of Law, "ARTICLE: FROM MOUNTAINS TO MOLEHILLS: A
COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF DRUG POLICY," 19 Ann. Surv. Int'l & Comp. L. 197, lexis)
At the heart of the legalization argument is the possibility of regulatory control . While prohibition is a regulation of
sorts, prohibitionist policy limits government options for interaction with the drug market to the decision to prosecute or to not prosecute. n150
With a legalized framework, government expands its power to influence the market at all stages. n151 From
production, to trafficking, to distribution, to consumption, and the individual, the government would have the
ability to tax and regulate to exert controls on the market. n152 The drug market under the prohibition model exists wholly
outside the scope of government regulation, with actors that are criminal by definition and who do not have any incentive to respect governmental
controls. n153 The illegal drug market under prohibition is a popular example in economic textbooks. This popularity is because the black market
in illicit drugs is perhaps the truest expression of free market principles. A black [*225] market is a market that is as unbridled by government
intervention as can be imagined because no governing authority operates in a black market; there are only buyers and sellers. Additionally, the
drug market presents a good example of several peculiarities such as inelastic demand, low cost of production, oligopolistic supply, massive
profit, and no governmental regulation. But because the black market is free of all regulation, there is no rule of law. n154 There is no guarantee
of goods for services, or of the quality or value of goods provided. n155 There is only supply, demand, production, consumption, and protection
of business interests through any means necessary. The illicit drug market is further compounded by massive profits. Economists contend that
legalization would squeeze illegal actors out of the drug market by making the legal drug market more profitable. n156 Thus, regulation
eliminates the bulk of the illegal market's share. Importantly, the black market in drugs is created, and hugely empowered by the illegal status of
drugs. n157 The illegal status of drugs increases the risk associated with the product, thus inflating the price and generating an illegal market
worth an estimated $ 500 billion annually. n158 The inflation in the price of drugs is actually the policy purpose of prohibition. n159 The hope is
that by inflating the price of drugs, less people will want to purchase them. However, the demand for illegal drugs has proven to be highly
inelastic, meaning that the demand for drugs does not respond to price. n160 As a result, prohibition creates an ideal market for organized crime:
high profits, low costs, and few competitors. Somewhere between an estimated $ 8 billion and $ 24 billion in cash is smuggled into Mexico
annually for illegal drugs. n161 These high levels of cash flow are not only an incredible incentive to perform criminal acts, but they also
generate massive amounts of violence in turf wars and transactional disputes between criminal actors that cannot be settled in a court of law. n162
Legalization of drugs would economically squeeze illegal actors out of the market by making it more cost effective to submit to government
[*226] regulation. Essentially, legalization removes many of the risks inherent in the drug trade and drives the price of drugs down steeply. n163
By forcing the prices down and increasing competition, the incentives for illegal actors to take part in the illegal drug trade are diminished, and
illegal actors are replaced with legal actors who are subject to regulation. Opponents argue that a legal market will make drugs more accessible,
and therefore result in a sharp increase in drugs consumed. In actuality, the demand for drugs has remained inelastic over time under a variety of
drug policies. The demand for drugs tends to remain stable regardless of price because many people will not use drugs regardless of cost for
health and moralistic reasons, while others will always use drugs regardless of cost due to addiction. n164 This means that there would likely be
only a slight increase in demand. Additionally, legalization opens up the possibility of a variety of regulative
possibilities, such as steep excise taxes, which could be used to keep the price of drugs high and the profits low. n165 Such an excise tax
could also be understood as transforming criminal profits into government revenues. These revenues, among other things, could be used for
treatment programs and other harms reduction policies that have a proven record of suppressing drug demand to manageable levels. Therefore,
under legalization, the overall profitability of drugs would decrease, government revenues would increase, regulatory options would increase, the
benefits of harms reduction models could be amplified, and illegal actors would be replaced with law abiding actors subject to governmental
controls.
“United States” means all areas under the sovereignty of the US – means it can be state or
federal or both
US Code no date ("The US Code defines the term 'United States' http://freedom-school.com/code-defines-unitedstates.pdf)
CITE- 16 USC Sec. 951 -EXPCITE- TITLE 16 CHAPTER 16 -HEAD- Sec. 951. Definitions (e) 'United States'
shall include all areas under the sovereignty of the United States, the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands,
and the Canal Zone
2AC - Ban All Gambling CP
CP doesn’t solve -Doesn’t solve the black market advantage
Freeman 13, Geoff Freeman, President and CEO American Gaming Association, Subcommittee on Commerce,
Manufacturing, and Trade Hearing entitled: “The State of Online Gaming” , 12/10/13,
http://docs.house.gov/meetings/IF/IF17/20131210/101570/HHRG-113-IF17-Wstate-FreemanG-20131210.pdf
We appreciate such leadership on this issue – and the opportunity to discuss the important need for consistent
and effective regulatory standards that protects consumers, ensures the integrity of online games , gives law
enforcement agencies the tools they need to combat illegal operators and provides Americans with access to
an online gaming marketplace they unquestionably desire . The experience of the past years has yielded one
crystal clear conclusion : Prohibition simply does not work . The federal government has tried the
prohibition approach through legislation – specifically the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006
and the Wire Act – and through multiple Justice Department crackdowns on offshore operators, as well. What
was the result of these attempts at prohibition? Last year, before a single state authorized legal online gaming,
Americans spent nearly $3 billion on illegal, unregulated offshore gaming sites. To put that into further context,
Americans accounted for nearly 10% of the entire $33 billion worldwide online gaming market in 2012.4 In
other words, rather than “prohibiting” online gaming, recent attempts at prohibition have created a thriving
black market and driven its economic benefits offshore. This should come as no surprise to a country where
sports betting takes place in every corner of the country, despite an ostensibly blanket government
prohibition. The fact is that Americans are currently spending billions on illegal, but easily accessible online
gaming sites. These sites operate in the shadows , with little consumer protection against cheating , money
laundering or underage gambling . In fact, it’s fair to argue that prohibition has given these shady operators
the best ally they could possibly imagine by blocking principled gaming companies from competing in the
market. Legitimate, strictly regulated operators respect the law and have licenses at stake, while illegal
operators always find ways to circumvent the law and offer little to no regard for consumer protection.
Rather than pursuing more futile attempts at prohibition , the American Gaming Association supports strong
regulation and oversight of online gaming
Doesn’t solve trade – CP is a zero quota on gambling that violates WTO commitments
under the GATS because the US formally agreed to provide full access to its gambling
sector – that is the exact opposite of the CP
Grunfeld 7 (Michael Grunfeld is an associate in the Litigation Group of the New York office of Shearman &
Sterling LLP, JD from Columbia, Columbia Business Law Review, 2007, “DON'T BET ON THE UNITED
STATES'S INTERNET GAMBLING LAWS: THE TENSION BETWEEN INTERNET GAMBLING
LEGISLATION AND WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION COMMITMENTS”, 439)
It might be true that barring states, even at the purely intrastate level, from authorizing an activity that has traditionally been a matter of state control goes against the
United States's federalist tradition in that area. However, allowing
such authorization might also contradict some of the U nited S tates's
more recent, but not necessarily any less important, free trade commitments in the WTO. After all, the very same statute that
explains that gambling is traditionally an area of state control goes on to explain that "the Federal Government . . .
should act to protect identifiable national interests.""'° If the U nited S tates enters into free trade agreements by which it
guarantees equal treatment with regard to certain sectors of the economy, then it makes sense that the federal
government cannot prohibit access to other WTO members while allowing states to limit access to U.S. citizens at
the intrastate level. Such an arrangement blatantly accords unequal treatment. This is not to say that either concern-states' rights
versus free trade-is necessarily more important. The aim here is to show how these two values come into conflict, but not to address the policy question of how to
resolve that conflict. Such a resolution depends on how one balances the two competing values relative to one another. It is also not surprising that federalism
concerns and free trade commitments would come into conflict here because there is an inherent tension between these values. International free trade commitments,
and treaty commitments more broadly, are made between nations as a whole. The nature of these agreements is for the signatories to make certain commitments on
behalf of their whole country. On the other hand, the very nature of federalism is to leave certain areas of control up to individual states to decide for themselves.
Therefore, on any given issue, by signing a treaty on behalf of the whole country, the federal government is necessarily taking that issue out of the control of
individual states. There are some areas that individual states have a constitutional right to control and thus there would be a constitutional problem with the federal
government signing a treaty on behalf of all the states in such an area. The regulation of Internet gambling, however, is not such an area. As explained earlier, even
though gambling regulation is traditionally a matter of state control, the
federal government has the constitutional authority to regulate
most gambling activities, and will do so when it sees a need for federal legislation.' Therefore, the issue here is a policy
matter of whether the federal government would prefer to leave the issue up to individual states to decide for themselves, or
would rather make a decision on behalf of the entire nation as part of its GATS commitments. Understanding the United States's underlying
concern as one of federalism gives a much more satisfying explanation for the conflict than do the protectionist or paternalist arguments. This way, in the laws that
conflict with the United States's GATS commitments, the United States can be seen as taking a default position against gambling, while at the same time-out of
concern for states' rights-states can choose to exempt themselves on a limited basis. This ultimately leads to treating foreign suppliers under the default of illegality,
but leaving room for states to make the conduct legal on an internal basis, yielding the problematic discrimination between how the conduct is treated within
individual states and how it is treated on the international level. The basic explanation of the WTO rule against discriminatory laws given up until this point has been
sufficient for understanding the basic issues applicable to U.S. laws in this area. However, in order to fully understand precisely what the problem is in the current
dispute and to ascertain whether or not there might be similar problems with other laws that were not considered by the WTO, a more detailed analysis of the WTO's
standards on this matter is necessary. IV. THE WTO DISPUTE Since
the legal status of Internet gambling is so unclear in the U nited
S tates, the businesses are often based offshore. The small island nation of Antigua-Barbuda (Antigua) has become a hub for online casinos.'32 Many
of these casinos have established reputations for honest dealing and are accepted as running their operations in good faith. Antigua welcomes this business and it is an
important part of the small country's economy. Despite the general accessibility of these foreign-based sites to U.S. citizens in recent years, as specific actions,
Antigua filed a complaint with the
WTO, claiming that certain U.S. federal and state laws violated the United States's free trade commitments entered into under the
GATS."' Antigua argued that "various U.S. actions against offshore online gambling amounted to 'an illegal barrier to trade in services."'13 , In its Request for
Consultation before the WTO, Antigua listed a plethora of federal and state statutes, as well as a number of individual federal
and state actions, that it claimed infringe on the free trade of Internet gambling services guaranteed by the United States under the GATS.136 In addition,
Antigua claimed that the totality of the U.S. laws amounted to a "total ban" on the cross-border supply of Internet
gambling.3 7 The analysis in U.S. - Gambling involved several complex steps. Simply stating the conclusions would ignore key facets of the dispute, which are
threatened the free exchange of business between its local gambling sites and U.S. citizens.133 In June of 2003,
important to understand if one is to fully comprehend the standards being applied to U.S. law. Therefore, in order to glean an understanding of the legal standards by
which disputes in this area are judged, this note will give a more detailed explanation of the WTO's reasoning. The WTO's analysis focused on determining the nature
of the United States's- free trade commitments under Article XVI of the GATS, applying those commitments to the measures at issue, and then considering the United
States's defense under the "public morals" exception of the free trade agreement.13 The case was first presided over by the WTO's Dispute Panel (DP). Each side then
appealed several issues from the DP's decision to the Appellate Body (AB), which judged each of these issues on appeal, overruling significant parts of the DP's
decision. A. The United States's Commitment to Gambling Services The
AB upheld (though on different grounds) the DP's conclusion that "the U nited
S tates's Schedule under the GATS includes specific commitments on gambling and betting services ."139 The AB also agreed
with the DP's conclusion that the substance of the United States's commitment in this area is "to provide full market access, within the meaning of Article XVI."' 4°
The AB then affirmed the DP's ruling that limitations tantamount to a "zero quota" (in that they totally prevent
market access ) are covered by Article XVI:2's provisions prohibiting "limitations on the number of service suppliers [and] service operations or on the total
quantity of service output."'' When a country agrees to grant market access to any sector of the economy, it is agreeing
for the entire sector , and therefore is in violation of its commitments "if it does not allow market access to the
whole or part of a scheduled sector or sub-sector."142 Similarly, the types of commitments at issue here (mode 1) "allow
services suppliers in other WTO Members for a committed sector to supply services cross-border via any means of
delivery."' Based on the all encompassing nature of these commitments, totally limiting even one means of
delivery of even part of a scheduled sector or sub-sector will constitute a "zero quota" with respect to that means of delivery in that
part of the scheduled sector or sub-sector. Therefore, even though gambling might be just part of a scheduled sector, and some
U.S. laws may only limit certain means of delivering that service , even those laws will be problematic if the United
States has made a market access commitment of the type that guarantees all modes of delivery. Essentially, under the GATS, the
U nited S tates agreed to provide "market access" to all means of delivery of gambling services . The WTO
therefore was not looking only at restrictions on Internet gambling, but rather at any restrictions on the free trade of
gambling services with Antigua. Because the United States's commitment is to have zero restrictions on the access
to this service, it does not matter to what extent the restrictions are limited to Internet gambling, as opposed to all gambling services. However, later on in the
analysis, the distinction between Internet and live gambling will become relevant when determining whether or not the United States applies its restrictions in a
discriminatory manner.
Links to midterms
fully compensate Antigua in the amount specified by the WTO’s ruling
- expand beneficiary eligibility for an S visa
Perkel ev from a decade ago doesn’t say the word gambling anywhere – no solvency
evidence that giving them S visas gives them the ability to get access to transcations on
illicit sites to prosecure
The CP is a flip-flop that kills trade credibility
Carlson 8 (Eric J. Carlson is an associate in the Business Law Department at Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP, JD,
magna cum laude, from Suffolk University Law School, Suffolk Transnational Law Review, Winter 2008,
“Drawing Dead: Recognizing Problems with Congress' Attempt to Regulate the Online Gambling Industry and the
Negative Repercussions to International Trade”, vol. 32, 135)
121. See supra notes 34, 38 and accompanying text (discussing UIGEA's civil suit provisions). The likelihood of a
foreign country enforcing civil penalties is even less probable in light of the WTO dispute between the U nited
S tates and Antigua. See supra notes 73-97 (discussing WTO dispute). 122. See supra note 97 and accompanying
text (describing Department of Justice reply to WTO Dispute Settlement Body). The U nited S tates' abrupt
change in position , after initially stating they would comply with the WTO decision, did not represent a good
faith effort to bring its actions into compliance with the WTO ruling, but rather demonstrated U.S. arrogance and a
convenient way to avoid the WTO's decision. See supra note 97 (discussing United States' change in position).
Perm do both
Setting a precedent of compliance is key – the CP is a ban that complies with sanctions but
not the initial WTO ruling
Rose 6 (Nelson Rose, professor at Whittier Law School in Costa Mesa, Calif., ’06 ““U.S. Ignores Deadline in WTO
Fight with Antigua,” Gaming Law Review, April 5, 2006, vol. 10, no. 3)
But ignoring this ruling has important political ramifications . This was apparently the first time that a small nation
took on a large one in the WTO. The U nited S tates did not need another excuse to be called arrogant in its handling
of world affairs and compliance with international law. Ironically, the U nited S tates has always been a strong advocate of the
WTO. The Clinton and Bush administrations spent years convincing other countries to join and abide by its decisions. How would we feel
if China announced that it would not permit American carmakers to compete against its local manufacturers, and then blew
off a ruling against it by the WTO? And what happens next time, when it is not Antigua but the U nited
K ingdom and Australia that ask for trade penalties from the U nited S tates for not letting in their licensed Internet
gaming operators? The states recognize the dangers. The attorneys general of 29 states joined in requesting the United States amend
its treaty agreement to include “gambling” on a list of excluded services in GATS. The states are particularly concerned because
the WTO only ruled on the impact of a few federal laws. The WTO probably would have held that many of the antigambling laws of the 50 states are wrongfully discriminating against foreign operators . The only reason it didn’t was
that the lawyers for Antigua made a small procedural error, almost a typo, that prevented the issue of state laws from
being considered in this particular case. The next country that brings the U.S. before the WTO won’t make the
same mistake . The state most at risk is Nevada, and it’s not just horseracing that is at stake. Nevada would have to try to
justify allowing its licensed sports books to take bets by phone and computer from people within the state while making it a crime for foreignlicensed sports books to do exactly the same thing. But even Utah is worried that its complete prohibition on all gambling
would fall, since the federal government’s treaty agreements are the supreme law of the land. It is difficult to amend
a GATS list. Otherwise, every nation that lost a fight in the WTO would simply change its commitments. GATS
negotiations literally take years. To add gambling to the excluded list, the U nited S tates would have to give up
something else . And, again, the federal government, other than a few members of Congress, does not feel legal gambling is worth
considering, even if only to ban it. The Bush administration has not even brought up the issue.
That devastates the CP – only the plan sets a precedent of compliance that shores up WTO
credibility and avoids tit for tat retaliation
Bloom 8 (Heather A. Bloom, JD, the George Washington University Law School, S.C. J. Int’l L. & Bus., 20082009, 5, 75, “Upping the Ante: The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act's Noncompliance with World
Trade Organization Law”, Hein Online)
B. THE U.S. SHOULD COMPLY WITH THE WTO TO AVOID FUTURE COMPLAINTS AND
RETALIATION FROM MEMBER COUNTRIES, AND TO SUPPORT THE LEGITIMACY OF THE WTO
The U.S. should comply with GATS and the Appellate Body's decision in the Antigua case for three reasons. First, compliance would help avoid
future complaints from larger WTO member countries or the E uropean U nion."' For example, the E uropean U nion has
already considered raising a prospective WTO claim regarding the new law. 72 Future complaints will most likely focus on whether
the new UIGEA excludes pari-mutuel betting on horseracing and meets both prongs of the public morals exception. Second, complying with GATS is
important to avoid patent retaliation from member countries. Under WTO law, if the U.S. ignores a WTO finding or decision,
member countries will have the option to disregard treaties requiring them to comply with U.S. patent laws. 73 For
example, because the U.S. refused to follow the Compliance Panel's findings in the Antigua case, WTO arbitration panel gave Antigua the right to
disregard U.S. copyrights on (e.g.,) videos, music, electronics, or software. 174 This type of retaliation will pose serious
ramifications for the U.S. if larger WTO member countries bring internet gambling complaints. Moreover, member
countries might also retaliate by refusing to allow U.S. companies to use certain geographical indications. 175 Third, the U.S. has "interests in
supporting the legitimacy of the WTO."'176 Continuing to ignore its commitments under the WTO with respect to the new law
will cost the U.S. "significant trade capital" and lead to trade sanctions or concessions. 177 If the U.S. ignores its
WTO obligations, then other countries might ignore their WTO obligations toward the U.S. 178
Absent regulations, online gambling promotes cyberlaundering—that’s the key to global
cyber terror
Hunt 11 (John Hunt (Lawyer—Florida Fifth District Court Of Appeal); “The new frontier of money laundering:
how terrorist organizations use cyberlaundering to fund their activities, and how governments are trying to stop
them”; Information & Communications Technology Law Volume 20, Issue 2, 2011;
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13600834.2011.578933#.VBCPjfldWSo)
For a terrorist organization seeking to launder money, the Internet and electronic currency provide excellent tools for
committing the crime efficiently. 26 As one author has stated, ‘[ c]yberlaundering is the safest way for criminals to launder
dirty money if the government cannot reconstruct the transactions of an audit trail’. 27 The process of cyberlaundering
mirrors the traditional methods, with the launderer ordinarily using the three stages discussed above (i.e. placement,
layering, and integration). 28 In addition to efficiency , cyberlaundering presents other benefits as well. One such benefit is that electronic
currency allows terrorists to avoid the problems associated with physically transferring large sums of money, and allows
criminal organizations to make lightning fast transfers anywhere in the world. 29 Perhaps the greatest advantage
cyberlaundering offers over traditional methods of money laundering is anonymity , since individuals may transfer electronic cash
from one location to another without ever having to complete a transaction in person . 30 This section will examine the concept of
cyberlaundering, and discuss what role it will play in the future of money laundering. Before going into detail about cyberlaundering, it is helpful to provide a brief
explanation of electronic currency, since the use of such currency is likely to increase in the coming years, and thus play an even more important role in future
laundering schemes. 31 Electronic currency, as its name suggests, holds the same status as traditional hard currency in the world economy, except that it does not exist
in a tangible form. 32 Some authors therefore call such currency the ‘greenback of the Internet’. 33 One method that allows individuals to take advantage of the
benefits of electronic currency is through the use of stored value cards (SVCs), also known as ‘smart cards’, which are tangible cards (similar in appearance to phone
cards) on which the user can store vast amounts of cash. 34 Individuals can load electronic currency onto their SVC at specialized vending machines, at the bank, at
compatible ATMs, through the Internet, and even over the phone. 35 Electronic cash comes in three forms: one that operates within traditional financial institutions,
such as banks; one that operates in a ‘tokenized’ system; and one that operates as a hybrid system. 36 Credit and debit cards continue to dominate online commerce in
the US, but companies are beginning to develop a system for SVCs that could gain worldwide popularity. 37 Although this discussion provides only a cursory
explanation of electronic currency and SVCs, it lays the foundation for a better understanding of cyberlaundering. In terms of the traditional three stages of money
cyberlaunderers benefit from
the anonymity of the Internet and electronic currency, as there is no need for face-to-face transactions. 39 Launderers may thus make it past
the placement stage undetected, since they are able to avoid the strict reporting requirements imposed on traditional
financial institutions. 40 At the layering stage, the cyberlaunderer has the biggest use for the Internet and its
laundering, electronic currency and the Internet provide ideal conditions for cyberlaunderers. 38 At the placement stage,
advantages over the traditional forms of layering in a laundering scheme . 41 If the criminal can find an institution (e.g. a
bank or online gambling site ) that will permit him to set up an account without face-to-face contact or without providing
documentary evidence of identity , then it would be extraordinarily difficult for the authorities to trace the account
back to the cyberlaunderer. 42 The Internet provides an almost instantaneous method of transfer of electronic cash, and the
transaction can occur anywhere in the world where there is an Internet connection. 43 If the launderer can transfer electronic currency between banks via the
Internet, then authorities may find it nearly impossible to trace the funds back to the source. 44 Finally, the Internet also makes the integration of
the cyberlaundered funds easier. For instance, an individual could establish an online gambling site and transfer funds
from an online bank account (established using a false identity) to the online gambling site; any proceeds of the gambling website would
thus appear legitimate to authorities tracing the audit trail of the profits. 45 This is the modern version of what the New
York Mafia did in the 1920s when they opened Laundromats as fronts for their criminal activities . 46 The cyberlaunderer
may also use legitimate bankers and lawyers to aid in the integration stage. 47 It is also possible that the cyberlaunderer could take advantage of debit cards issued by
offshore banks, real estate transactions, and ‘fake loans from offshore companies’ to integrate the laundered funds back into the legitimate economy. 48 Once
the
laundered money passes through these stages, the criminal organization is free to use the funds to further its aims .
The next section will focus on how terrorist organizations utilize the Internet and cyberlaundering techniques to fund their activities. This paper will then turn to the
topic of how the US government, the UN, the G7, the OAS, and the COE have attempted to stem the laundering of money by terrorist organizations, and finally will
discuss the future of measures aimed at stopping cyberlaundering. Given the threats posed by cyberlaundering to the financial industry and national security, it is vital
that governmental organizations take steps to stem the use of new technologies by terrorist organizations. 49 4 Online terrorism: how terrorist organizations use the
Internet and cyberlaundering to fund their activities Jump to section 1. Introduction 2 A brief history of money laundering and... 3. The new frontier of money
laundering 4 Online terrorism: how terrorist organizations... 5 Attempts by national governments and... 6 The future of cyberlaundering: what... 7 Conclusion
Despite efforts by the governments of the US and its allies, terrorist organizations such as al Qaeda, Hezbollah, and
Hamas still maintain the ability to coordinate attacks and fund their activities. 50 One medium that terrorist organizations are
increasingly taking advantage of is the Internet. 51 There is evidence that terrorist organizations rely on the Internet and related technologies to
conduct their activities, which likely includes laundering money to legitimize their funds. 52 Indeed, some observers believe that
cyberlaundering and cyberterrorism may pose just as great a threat to the stability of the global economy and global
security as traditional weapons of mass destruction . 53 Although terrorist organizations may use the Internet for recruitment, training, and
planning purposes as well, this section will focus on how such organizations raise funds and legitimize those funds through cyberlaundering. 54 The Internet, with its
anonymity, ease of use, and accessibility, permits terrorist organizations to avoid some of the dangers of conducting
financial transactions through traditional channels. 55 To take one example of how successful terrorist organizations are in raising
funds, consider the case of al Qaeda. It is difficult to state with any certainty how much money al Qaeda raises every year; one estimate put the figure at $30
million in 2004, but that number is likely lower today. 56 Although certainly not all of the funds raised by al Qaeda pass through the Internet, it is likely that the
organization significantly
relies on the Internet and cyberlaundering to help distribute its wealth. 57 Al Qaeda and other terrorist
organizations excel at adapting to changing circumstances, and of maintaining their core financial stability, despite the
best efforts of authorities. 58 In order to make these adaptations and to take advantage of the Internet and other
technologies, however, terrorist organizations must have reliable sources of funding. 59 Terrorist organizations rely on several sources
to fund their activities. To provide some perspective, the CIA estimates that al Qaeda spent $30 million in the years leading up to the September 11 attacks for
planning, recruitment, and other supportive purposes. 60 The CIA believes that much of the $30 million came from contributions from religious and charitable
organizations. 61 One organization that provides a significant amount of support to al Qaeda is the Muslim Brotherhood, which ‘was founded in Egypt in 1928 as a
religious organization’. 62 In addition to al Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood also has ties to the Tamil Tigers, the Afghan mujahidin, and is considered by the US
Treasury to be the ‘parent’ of Hamas. 63 More recently, terrorist organizations have turned to conventional crimes such as extortion, the selling of narcotics, and arms
trafficking to fund their activities. 64 According to Mr David S. Cohen, the Assistant US Treasury Secretary for Terrorist Financing, the move into traditional criminal
activities makes terrorist organizations ‘more vulnerable to detection by international law enforcement agencies … ’ 65 Although terrorist organizations have different
motives than those who traditionally take part in the drug trade, there are many similarities between the activities of the two groups when one looks at their reliance on
Once the terrorist organizations
receive the funds, they must ensure that they can spend the proceeds in economies around the world . Given that some of the
drug trafficking for funding. 66 Terrorist groups also receive funds from investments in legitimate business. 67
funds obtained be terrorists come from legitimate sources, authorities may have difficulty in tracing the funds or proving that the groups are committing the crime of
money laundering. 68 Cyberlaundering and the use of the Internet allow the organizations
to launder and transfer money easily and
quickly, and provide an alternative to traditional informal financial networks, such as hawalas. 69 The widespread availability of the Internet creates a convenient
method for terrorist organizations to transfer funds, both illegal and legal, to cells across the globe. 70 Using the cyberlaundering techniques
described above, terrorist groups can ensure that their coffers do not run dry. Although traditional informal financial
institutions are fast, inexpensive, reliable, convenient, and discreet, they do not share the Internet’s relative lack of regulation and law
enforcement observation. 71 In addition, the Internet allows terrorist financers to transfer funds from the location of their choosing,
without ever having to make a face-to-face transaction . 72 It is difficult to say with certainty to what extent terrorist organizations use the
Internet and cyberlaundering techniques to further their causes, but it is certain that the groups are taking full advantage of modern technology. 73 Although outside
the scope of this paper, terrorist organizations may also use the Internet for cyberterrorist attacks on governmental and financial infrastructures. 74 As one author
stated, ’[t]errorists
are able to do more damage with a keyboard than a bomb ’. 75
Cyber grid attacks cause nuclear war
Andres and Breetz 11
[Richard B. andres is Professor of national Security Strategy at the national War College and a Senior fellow and energy and environmental
Security and Policy Chair in the Center for Strategic research, institute for national Strategic Studies, at the national Defense University. Hanna
L. Breetz is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Political Science at the Massachusetts institute of technology. Small Nuclear Reactors for
Military Installations: Capabilities, Costs, and Technological Implications, Institute for National Strategic Studies, http://www.dtic.mil/cgibin/GetTRDoc?Location=U2&doc=GetTRDoc.pdf&AD=ADA545712]jap
More recently, awareness has been growing that the grid is also vulnerable to purposive attacks. A re- port sponsored by the
Department of Homeland Secu- rity suggests that a coordinated cyberattack on the grid could result in a third of the
country losing power for a period of weeks or months.9 Cyberattacks on critical infrastructure are not well understood. It is not
clear, for instance, whether existing terrorist groups might be able to develop the capability to conduct this type of attack. It is likely, however,
that some nation-states either have or are working on developing the ability to take down the U.S. grid. In the event
of a war with one of these states, it is possible, if not likely, that parts of the civilian grid would cease to function,
taking with them military bases located in affected regions. Government and private organizations are currently working to
secure the grid against attacks; however, it is not clear that they will be successful. Most military bases currently have backup power
that allows them to function for a period of hours or, at most, a few days on their own. If power were not restored
after this amount of time, the results could be disastrous. First, military assets taken offline by the crisis would not be
available to help with disaster relief. Second, during an extended blackout, global military operations could be
seriously compromised; this disruption would be particularly serious if the blackout was induced during
major combat operations. During the Cold War, this type of event was far less likely because the United States and Soviet Union
shared the common understanding that blinding an opponent with a grid black- out could escalate to nuclear
war. America’s current opponents, however, may not share this fear or be deterred by this possibility . In 2008,
the Defense Science Board stressed that DOD should mitigate the electrical grid’s vulnerabilities by turning military
installations into “islands” of energy self-sufficiency.10 The department has made ef- forts to do so by promoting efficiency
programs that lower power consumption on bases and by constructing renewable power generation facilities on selected bases.
Unfortunately, these programs will not come close to reaching the goal of islanding the vast majority of bases . Even with
massive investment in efficiency and renew- ables, most bases would not be able to function for more than a few days after the civilian grid went
offline.
2AC – Neolib
Reps not first
Thierry Balzacq 5, Professor of Political Science and IR @ Namar University, “The Three Faces of Securitization:
Political Agency, Audience and Context” European Journal of International Relations, London: Jun 2005, Volume
11, Issue 2
However, despite important insights, this position remains highly disputable. The reason behind this qualification is not hard to understand. With
great trepidation my contention is that one of the main distinctions we need to take into account while examining securitization is that between
'institutional' and 'brute' threats. In its attempts to follow a more radical approach to security problems wherein threats are institutional, that is,
mere products of communicative relations between agents, the CS has neglected the importance of 'external or brute threats', that is, threats that
do not depend on language mediation to be what they are - hazards for human life. In methodological terms, however,
any framework over-emphasizing either institutional or brute threat risks losing sight of important aspects of a multifaceted phenomenon. Indeed,
securitization, as suggested earlier, is successful when the securitizing agent and the audience reach a common structured perception of an
ominous development. In this scheme, there is no security problem except through the language game. Therefore, how problems are 'out
there' is exclusively contingent upon how we linguistically depict them. This is not always true . For one, language
does not construct reality ; at best, it shapes our perception of it. Moreover, it is not theoretically useful nor is it
empirically credible to hold that what we say about a problem would determine its essence . For instance,
what I say about a typhoon would not change it s essence. The consequence of this position, which would require a deeper
articulation, is that some security problems are the attribute of the development itself. In short, threats are not only institutional ; some
of them can actually wreck entire political communities regardless of the use of language . Analyzing security problems
then becomes a matter of understanding how external contexts, including external objective developments, affect securitization.
Thus, far from being a departure from constructivist approaches to security, external developments are central to it.
Extinction first
Kateb 92 – Professor of Politics at Princeton University (George, The Inner Ocean, pg. 141)
To sum up the lines of thought that Nietzsche starts, I suggest first that it is epistemologically impossible for humanity to arrive at an estimation
of the worth of itself or of the rest of nature: it cannot pretend to see itself from the outside or to see the rest, as it were, from the inside.
Second, after allowance is made for this quandary, which is occasioned by the death of God and the birth of truth, humanity, placed in a position in
which it is able to extinguish human life and natural life on earth, must simply affirm existence as such. Existence must go on but not
because of any particular feature or group of features. The affirmation of existence refuses to say what worth existence has, even from
just a human perspective, from any human perspective whatever. It cannot say, because existence is indefinite; it is beyond evaluating ; being
undesigned it is unencompassable by a defined and definite judgment. (The philosopher Frederick A. Olafson speaks of "the stubbornly unconceptualizable fact of
existence.") The
worth of the existence passed on to the unborn is not measurable but indefinite. The judgment is minimal: no human purpose or
value within existence is worth more than existence and can ever be used to justify the risk of extinction . Third, from the
moral point of view, existence seems unjustifiable because of the pain and ugliness in it, and therefore the moral point of view must
be chastened if it is not to block attachment to existence as such. The other minimal judgment is that whatever existence is, it is better
than nothing . For the first time, in the nuclear age, humanity can fully perceive existence from the perspective of nothing, which in
part is the perspective of extinction.
Perm do both
The aff corrects the failures of neoliberalism here – favouring a small number of giant corporations
There is, as a result, a growing inequality within and between nation
weaker states are disadvantaged by the WTO precedent the US has set
Codd 7 [Kathryn B. Codd - J.D. Candidate 2008, William & Mary School of Law; B.A. 2005, summa cum laude,
Gonzaga University, Betting on the Wrong Horse: The Detrimental Effect of Noncompliance in the Internet
Gambling Dispute on the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), 49 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 941 (2007)]
The U.S. response to the gambling dispute with Antigua threatens to undermine the process through which
rights and obligations under GATS are enforced internationally . Maintaining a legitimate mechanism for
regulating the service trade is important for a number of reasons. First, GATS aims at removing restrictions
to international trade in services. Such liberalization increases economic growth and efficiency in the markets
of GATS members, as services begin to be provided along the lines of comparative advantage.7 ' Furthermore,
having a centralized dispute settlement mechanism for the services trade increases "security and
predictability" for all trade participants.79 The DSU does this by providing a single forum for resolving all
GATS disputes, which adds to the efficiency and timeliness of outcomes and consistency in interpretation of the
GATS agreement.8 " Additionally, without a legitimate agreement under which to enforce rights and
obligations, service trade commitments become nothing more than straw men that nations can abide by or
ignore at will. 8' Such an arrangement would clearly disfavor weaker nations, which often lack the economic
and political clout to enforce their own rights on the open market.82 Finally, maintaining a centralized
framework for regulation of the services trade under GATS decreases the likelihood of unilateral actions by
members who believe their rights have been violated. Unilateral actions have a tendency to escalate to the
point of trade war , with each side maintaining that its actions are justified while simultaneously condemning
similar actions by a fellow member.8"
Neoliberalism inevitable – elites shut down opposition
Vakulabharanam 12
[Vamsi Vakulabharanam, faculty member with the School of Economics at the University of Hyderabad, India.,
Why Does Neoliberalism Persist Even After the Global Crisis?, 12/20/12,
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/12/why-does-neoliberalism-persist-even-after-the-global-crisis.html]
The 2007-9 crisis in global capitalism brought a new energy and focus to the heterodox economists, and more broadly to the critics of
neoliberalism from different arenas of society. It seemed clear at that time that neoliberalism had run its course when it met its structural contradiction – with the burst of the US
housing bubble and the concomitant financial crises across the world, it looked like the avenues through which demand was being generated were closed and the system was poised for structural
Three years later, Southern Europe is witnessing an intense so-called sovereign debt crisis with the working people bearing the brunt of it, and real economies in the
The US seems to be under the threat of the so-called fiscal cliff (which seems more like a
political event rather than an economic one). The economies that grew quickly during the neo-liberal period, like China and India ,
have slowed down considerably. Across the globe, we seem to be going through a period of uncertainty without a clear path ahead. Yet, neoliberalism persists .
Why? There are multiple explanations for this. Bailout packages of various governments were directed at rescuing financial capital, and this has pitted the interests of
financial capital against the interests of the majority . The global left has not been strong enough to take
advantage of the crisis to better represent the interests of the majority. Governments across the world, after a brief gap, have returned to
their neoliberal posture of supporting financial capital and so forth. There is truth in all these explanations. However, we need to broaden the array of explanations both to take
change.
developed world are continuing to witness slow growth.
into account the spatial diversity of neoliberalism, as well as to deepen our analytical understanding of this persistence. I offer one such explanation from field explorations in India to add to the
existing explanations. This addition is not simply academic, but it shows the need for deeper political engagement to bring about systemic change, given that our explanations of the structural
contradictions of neoliberalism are on the mark. In two recent field visits that we (a group of local researchers) undertook to understand the persistence of neoliberalism at the concrete level, we
found some interesting phenomena. Both these visits were in the state of Andhra Pradesh in South India. The first visit was in the region of Telangana, which is highly politicized right now, as
the people of the region are fighting for a separate state within the Indian nation-state. The second visit was to a tribal habitat in the northeastern region of the same state, where communist
struggles have been active for a while. In both these areas, there are continued appropriations of common lands, common resources and minerals, such as Granite and Bauxite by local and foreign
capitalist elites aided by the State. In the process, these elites are destroying the local livelihoods without creating credible alternative. Both these are classic cases of primitive accumulation or
Accumulation by dispossession operates
operates through the acquisition of lands from small producers
accumulation by dispossession, a process that has centrally defined neoliberalism over the last thirty-five years across the globe.
in our times through the following modes of appropriation. First, it
such as
peasants, tribal people, artisans and the urban poor in the name of Special Economic Zones and the like. Some of the lands acquired thus, have became open to speculative enterprises of real
there has been a large-scale privatization drive in most countries that has made public sector
enterprises alienate their properties at throwaway prices to private players. Third, and these are the cases that we have focused on –
commons have been appropriated with ease either because the laws governing them are weak or because
common properties are often meddled with by the State. What we found in these two regions is that the particular modes of appropriation that have
estate dealers. Second,
come into being with great force during the neoliberal period have persisted even after the crisis. Why is this the case? One explanation that ties in with the explanations above is that resistance
that neoliberalism
has been able to create structures of populism that are deeply entrenched . The local elites have pursued a threefold strategy for the continued appropriation of the commons . First, they (with the support of the State) have put in place
various populist policy imperatives that have temporarily addressed the consumption needs of the majority
has not been strong enough or effective from the people and their social movements or from the larger left movements. The other explanation that we offered is
without altering the deeper neoliberal structural forces that have inhibited employment growth and wage growth over the last thirty years. For example, there are schemes such as housing or
subsidized food for the poor even as their productive resources such as land are acquired by the elites/states. These have tended to perpetuate themselves after the global crisis, even with the loud
demands for austerity. Second,
the elites have continued to appropriate common and public resources to keep their own
accumulation levels above an acceptable minimum in a time of slowdown of accumulation opportunities
through regular economic growth. Resistance is sought to be controlled through populism of the kind discussed above. Even in regions that are highly politicized, such
as Telangana, the leadership of the movement has been hand-in-glove with the local elites who gain consistently through the perpetuation of these appropriation practices.Third,
professionals and middle classes have been the beneficiaries of a system that has thrived on the creation of
enclave economies where there is a sharing of rents among the elites and these professional group s. These professional
classes have taken up key positions in the government, media, corporate executive roles, and as intermediaries between the elites and the working people who use the commons. The broad
support of these classes for the local elites has played a key role in the perpetuation of neoliberalism . As long as
these processes persist, neoliberalism will be strong on the ground, with the elites and non-elites bound together in the
larger neoliberal system through the different, yet entangled processes of appropriation, rent sharing and populism. Of course, this cannot go on, since the
logic of austerity is bound to create contradictions in the path of populism. However, this contradiction may unfold very differently across space and time, as not all governments are going to
react identically to the demands of austerity. The 1% in the US (that the Occupy movement has targeted) or the top decile of the population (in countries like China and India) continue to benefit
from the perpetuation of the neoliberal configuration while they are pitted against their large majorities. As long as the political groups on the ground do not make their voices heard loudly
as long as there are continued benefits for the elites from the perpetuation of
neoliberalism, the system will persist .
enough against the top 1% or the top 10%, and
Neoliberalism allows for individual rights and whistle blowing – solves their VTL offense
Bjorkelo and Madsen 13
[Brita Department of Post Graduate Studies, Norwegian Police University College Department of Psychosocial
Science, University of Bergen, and Ole, Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities, University of
Bergen, April 2013. Whistleblowing and neoliberalism: Political resistance in late capitalist economy,
http://www.psychologyandsociety.org/__assets/__original/2013/04/4.pdf]
Now, what have these suggested societal changes to do with the individual act of whistleblowing? Quite a lot, as individual responsibility in the workplace, and the
chance of someone exercising it, is not simply down to personal character, but as Power (2011) states related to historical, social and political circumstances. Of
particular interest is what the ‘workplace’ actually has come to mean to workers. Bourdieu (1998b) called
neoliberalism a political project
dedicated to the methodical destruction of collectives. He emphasised how this presented a new kind of economic
responsibility on agents. Bourdieu linked this tendency to the overall neoliberal individualisation of working life where organisational profits are turned
into individual merit (through personal contracts and salaries) and individual responsibility. Thus, workers cling to their jobs and organisations under conditions of
insecurity, suffering and stress. On the other hand, neoliberalism
can be argued to having opened society for more individual
rights, independent of social class, as working life before neoliberalism tended to be heavily based on class
hierarchies. Thus, the focus on the actual merit related to one’s job performance, independent of class, is
perhaps the positive outcome of the new working life where everyone is given the opportunity to take control
over their own individual career. Modern management techniques seek to abolish the traditional authoritative hierarchy, which initially may sound
like a humane development. However, an outcome of new management can also be that responsibility becomes much more elusive than in the past. Sennett (1998) for
instance views the tendency to diminish the traditional hierarchy of authority and instead make every worker responsible in the new capitalism with suspicion.
Neoliberalism forces each and every one to accept a greater responsibility for themselves and their individual
careers. Who then holds the responsibility for ‘the bigger picture’ traditionally guaranteed by the state? What happens to traditional politics? As one manager
states when confronted with the decline in jobs: ‘We are all victims of time and place’ (Sennett, 1998, p. 114). Neoliberalism is in a sense freeing
everyone and leaving no one to blame for the misery, not even top managers. The conditions of whistleblowing under neoliberalism can
therefore be seen as a paradox as neoliberalism is based on a firm belief in the sole individual’s capacity while traditional moral at the same time becomes superfluous
(cf. Dufour, 2008). Transferred to the organisation this means that the organisation depends more on workers to report wrongdoing,
while morals are silently, but methodologically downplayed (cf. Sennett, 1998). The long-term effects of globalised neoliberalism can thus be a loss of community and
faith in local values (cf. Nafstad, et al., 2007). Such collective
resources that individuals traditionally have drawn upon to
become moral agents. Organisational members that report wrongdoing at work is one example of such
’moral agents’ (Tsahuridu & Vandekerckhove, 2008, p. 111).
Neoliberalism allows for empowerment – doesn’t strip agency
Bjorkelo and Madsen 13
[Brita Department of Post Graduate Studies, Norwegian Police University College Department of Psychosocial
Science, University of Bergen, and Ole, Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities, University of
Bergen, April 2013. Whistleblowing and neoliberalism: Political resistance in late capitalist economy,
http://www.psychologyandsociety.org/__assets/__original/2013/04/4.pdf]
This immensely responsible neoliberal subject – sometimes referred to as ‘the Enterprise Self’ (Heelas, 1991) – is empowered through this
rule of governing . This is at least according to the official programme of neoliberalism where ‘ self-conduct’ means that neoliberal
subjects are historically free and responsible to exercise their autonomous freedom in absence of
governmental interference (Cruikshank, 1999). Within the workplace, ‘empowerment’ means to provide employees with the
opportunity to make their own decisions . Organisational theory and management philosophies that deal with ‘employee empowerment’ typically
stress that managers must empower their employees by sharing more information, help to create autonomous workers, and tear down the old hierarchies with selfmanaged teams (see for instance Blanchard, Carlos, & Randolph, 1996). In
accordance with the neoliberal ideal of power that
materialise from external authorities to internal self-government, employees are empowered with better opportunities
and more responsibility within the organisation to ensure efficiently and maximum profit. Finally, this shift in
power means that employees are given and also must accept greater responsibility for their work environment, including the
willingness to report wrongdoing if so necessary.
Neoliberalism not oppressive or exploitive – empirically proven
Bhagvati 04 (University Professor at Columbia University and Senior Fellow in International Economics at the
Council on Foreign Relations [JagdishBhagwati, “In Defense of Globalization”. 2004. Overview,
http://www.cfr.org/publication/6769/in_defense_of_globalization.html]
JagdishBhagwati takes conventional wisdom—that globalization is the cause of several social ills—and turns it on its head. Properly
regulated, globalization, he says, is the most powerful force for social good in the world. Drawing on his unparalleled
knowledge of international economics, Bhagwati dismantles the antiglobalization case. He persuasively argues that globalization often
leads to greater general prosperity in an underdeveloped nation: it can reduce child labor, increase literacy, and
enhance the economic and social standing of women.And to counter charges that globalization leads to cultural hegemony, to a
bland “McWorld,” Bhagwati points to several examples, from literature to movies, in which globalization has led to a spicy hybrid of
cultures. Often controversial and always compelling, Bhagwati cuts through the noise on this most contentious issue, showing that
globalization is part of the solution, not part of the problem. Anyone who wants to understand what’s at stake in the globalization wars will want
to read In Defense of Globalization. The first edition of In Defense of Globalization addressed the critiques that concerned the social implications
of economic globalization.Thus, it addressed questions such as the impact on women’s rights and equality, child labor,
poverty in the poor countries, democracy, mainstream and indigenous culture, and the environment. Professor Bhagwati
concluded that globalization was, on balance, a force for advancing these agendas as well.Thus, whereas the critics assumed
thatglobalizationlacked a human face, itactually had a human face. He also examined in depth the ways in which policy and
institutional design could further advance these social agendas, adding more glow to the human face.
No alt – cx, subjectivity shift
There's no feasible alternative to neoliberalism
Yglesias 11 (Matthew, Contributor @ Think Progress, "What Is The Alternative To ‘Neoliberalism’?," 7/18,
http://thinkprogress.org/yglesias/2011/07/18/272099/what-is-the-alternative-to-neoliberalism/?mobile=nc)
The fact that Doug Henwood disagrees with me about monetary policy has suddenly turned into a sprawling cross-blog discussion of
“neoliberalism”
and its discontents. Personally, I find the argument to be infuriatingly devoid of content , but
here’s Henry Farrell’s core claim, devoid of examples :¶ Neo-liberals tend to favor a combination of market mechanisms and
technocratic solutions to solve social problems. But these kinds of solutions tend to discount politics – and in particular political collective action,
which requires strong collective actors such as trade unions. This means that vaguely-leftish versions of neo-liberalism often have weak theories
of politics, and in particular of the politics of collective action. I see Doug and others as arguing that successful political change
requires large scale organized collective action, and that this in turn requires the correction of major power
imbalances (e.g. between labor and capital). They’re also arguing that neo-liberal policies at best tend not to help correct these
imbalances, and they seem to me to have a pretty good case. To put it more succinctly – even if left-leaning neo-liberals are right to claim that
technocratic solutions and market mechanisms can work to relieve disparities etc, it’s hard for me to see how left-leaning neo-liberalism can
generate any self-sustaining politics.¶ Having read this and various people agreeing with it, I have no idea what it is that we’re disagreeing about.
Neoliberals on this telling, favor progressive taxation. Non-neoliberals criticize this agenda as not politically workable in the long-term. And
they counterpose as their alternative, more workable agenda, . . . what? Kevin Drum offers this effort:¶ I don’t know the answer
either. But as I said a few months ago, “If the left ever wants to regain the vigor that powered earlier eras of liberal reform, it needs to rebuild the
infrastructure of economic populism that we’ve ignored for too long. Figuring out how to do that is the central task of the new decade.” It still is.¶
So I really, strongly, profoundly agree with this. The moment someone comes up with a workable idea on this front, please
sign me up. But if there’s no idea to debate, then there’s no idea to debate . Debating the desirability of
devising some hypothetical future good idea seems kind of pointless to me.
Their concerns are disproven by history – the system evolves but doesn’t fail, and quality of
life is higher each time
Ridley, visiting professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, former science editor of The Economist, and awardwinning science writer, 2010
(Matt, The Rational Optimist, pg. 41-43)
In truth, far from being unsustainable, the interdependence of the world through trade is the very thing that
makes modern life as sustainable as it is. Suppose your local laptop manufacturer tells you that he already has
three orders and then he is off on his holiday so he cannot make you one before the winter. You will have to wait. Or
suppose your local wheat farmer tells you that last year’s rains means he will have to cut his flour delivery in half
this year. You will have to go hungry. Instead, you benefit from a global laptop and wheat market in which
somebody somewhere has something to sell you so there are rarely shortages, only modest price fluctuations. For
example, the price of wheat approximately trebled in 2006–8, just as it did in Europe in 1315–18. At the earlier date,
Europe was less densely populated, farming was entirely organic and food miles were short. Yet in 2008, nobody
ate a baby or pulled a corpse from a gibbet for food. Right up until the railways came, it was cheaper for people to
turn into refugees than to pay the exorbitant costs of importing food into a hungry district. Interdependence
spreads risk. The decline in agricultural employment caused consternation among early economists. François
Quesnay and his fellow ‘physiocrats’ argued in eighteenth-century France that manufacturing produced no gain in
wealth and that switching from agriculture to industry would decrease a country’s wealth: only farming was true
wealth creation. Two centuries later the decline in industrial employment in the late twentieth century caused a
similar consternation among economists, who saw services as a frivolous distraction from the important business of
manufacturing. They were just as wrong. There is no such thing as unproductive employment, so long as people are
prepared to buy the service you are offering. Today, 1 per cent works in agriculture and 24 per cent in industry,
leaving 75 per cent to offer movies, restaurant meals, insurance broking and aromatherapy.
Neoliberalism solves environmental collapse.
Christmann and Taylor 01
American businessman and the head of a privately held multinationalcompany, Professor Christmann specializes in research
of the globaleconomy (Petra and Glen, Globalization and the environment:Determinants of firm self-regulation in China. Journal ofInternational business studies,
32(3), 439-458, ABI/INFORM)http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=277452]
In contrast, globalization
proponents contend that lower barriers to trade and foreign investment encourage firms to
transfer environmental technologies and managemement systems from countries with stricter environmental
standards to developing countries, which lack access to environmental technologies and capabilities (Drezner, 2000).
Governmental failure to protect the environment, it is suggested in this line of argument, might also be ameliorated through selfregulation of environmental performance by firms in developing countries.Self-regulation refers to a firm’s adoption of environmental
performance standards or environmental management systems (EMS) beyond the requirements of governmental regulations .
Globalization can increase self-regulation pressures in several ways. First, globalization increases MNEs’ investment in
developing countries where their subsidiaries can be expected to self-regulate their environmental performance more
than domestic firms do. MNEs can transfer the more advanced environmental technologies and management systems developed
in response to more stringent regulations in developed countries to their subsidiaries. MNEs also face pressures from interest groups to
improve their worldwide environmental performance. Second, globalization might contribute to environmental performance as a
supplier-selection criterion, which also pressures domestic firms in developing countries to self-regulate environmental
performance…Globalization does not necessarily have negative effects on the environment in developing countriesto
the extend suggested by the pollution-haven and industrial-flight hypotheses. Our study suggests that globalization increases institutional and
consumer pressures on firms to surpass local requirements, even when they may be tempted by lax regulations and enforcement in countries
offering themselves as pollution havens (Hoffman, 1999; Rugman and Verbeke, 1998).
Alt fails – must take pragmatic action
Wright 7 [Erik Olin, Vilas Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of Wisconsin, “Guidelines for
Envisioning Real Utopias”, Soundings, April, www.ssc.wisc.edu/~wright/Published%20writing/Guidelinessoundings.pdf]
The central problem of envisioning real
utopias concerns the viability of institutional alternatives that embody emancipatory values , but the practical
achievability of such institutional designs often depends upon the existence of smaller steps, intermediate
5. Waystations The final guideline for discussions of envisioning real utopias concerns the importance of waystations.
institutional innovations that move us in the right direction but only partially embody these values. Institutional
proposals which have an all-or-nothing quality to them are both less likely to be adopted in the first place,
and may pose more difficult transition-cost problems if implemented. The catastrophic experience of Russia
in the “shock therapy” approach to market reform is historical testimony to this problem. Waystations are a difficult theoretical
and practical problem because there are many instances in which partial reforms may have very different consequences than
full- bodied changes. Consider the example of unconditional basic income. Suppose that a very limited, below-subsistence basic income was instituted: not enough to survive
on, but a grant of income unconditionally given to everyone. One possibility is that this kind of basic income would act mainly as a subsidy to employers who pay very low wages, since
now they could attract more workers even if they offered below poverty level earnings. There may be good reasons to institute such wage subsidies, but they would not generate the positive
What we ideally want, therefore, are intermediate reforms that have two
main properties: first, they concretely demonstrate the virtues of the fuller program of transformation, so they
contribute to the ideological battle of convincing people that the alternative is credible and desirable; and second,
they enhance the capacity for action of people, increasing their ability to push further in the future.
Waystations that increase popular participation and bring people together in problem-solving deliberations
for collective purposes are particularly salient in this regard . This is what in the 1970s was called “nonreformist
reforms”: reforms that are possible within existing institutions and that pragmatically solve real problems
while at the same time empowering people in ways which enlarge their scope of action in the future.
effects of a UBI, and therefore might not function as a stepping stone.
Turn – Collapsing neoliberalism results in increased corporate power
Legrain 00 (Phillipe Legrain, special adviser to the WTO director general Mike Moore, 2000, The WTO: Boon or
Bane for the Developing World, p. http://www.focusweb.org/publications/2000/The%20WTOThe%20WTOBoon%20or%20Bane%20for%20the%20Developing%20World.htm)
A convincing case for the WTO’s abolition must show two things. First, that the world would be better off without the
WTO. Second, that the WTO's abolition is preferable to any politically feasible reform. You fail to show either. Abolishing
the WTO would not destroy globalisation, capitalism, or US corporate power . But it would wipe out a forum for
governments to negotiate multilateral trade rules and a mechanism for holding them to those rules. That would make
every country worse off, but the biggest losers would be the poor and the weak. One benefit of rules is that they apply
to big, rich countries as well as small, poor ones. When America blocked imports of Costa Rican underwear, Costa Rica
appealed to the WTO. It won, and America lifted its restrictions. Do you honestly think Costa Rica would have such clout in
Washington without the WTO? Granted, the dispute-settlement mechanism is not perfect: America has a battery of lawyers to fight its
corner, whereas small countries scrimp. It should be improved. But it is already much better than the alternative: the law of the jungle, where
might makes right. Another merit of WTO rules is that they tie governments’ hands. Once countries open their markets to foreign trade
and investment, they cannot close them again at whim. Without this stability, companies would be reluctant to invest abroad, particularly
in developing countries with a protectionist or politically unstable record. Abolishing the WTO would further marginalise
developing countries. If there were no prospect of further multilateral liberalisation and no body to enforce existing rules, trade barriers
would creep up as protectionists gain the upper hand. The world might split into hostile regional blocks, with rich-country
exporters seeking captive markets in developing countries. Developing countries, which need access to rich-country
markets more than rich countries need access to theirs, would have to join on unfavourable terms or be left out in the cold. In any
case, there would be less trade. And less trade means slower economic growth, stagnating living standards and more people trapped in
poverty – like in the Great Depression. Over the past 50 years, the 15-fold rise in world trade has driven a seven-fold rise in world output.
Thanks to trade, Japan and South Korea are no longer developing countries. Jeffrey Sachs and Andrew Warner of Harvard University found that
developing countries with open economies grew by 4.5 per cent a year in the 1970s and 1980s, while those with closed economies grew by 0.7
per cent a year. At that rate, open economies double in size every 16 years, while closed ones must wait a hundred. Of course, in the short term,
some people lose from trade liberalisation. But in the long run, everyone gains: even the poorest South Koreans today are much richer than their
counterparts 30 years ago.
2AC – Midterms (GOP Bad)
No escalation – disagreements remain limited
Weitz 11 (Richard, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a World Politics Review senior editor 9/27/2011,
“Global Insights: Putin not a Game-Changer for U.S.-Russia Ties,” http://www.scribd.com/doc/66579517/GlobalInsights-Putin-not-a-Game-Changer-for-U-S-Russia-Ties)
Fifth, there will inevitably be areas of conflict between Russia and the United States regardless of who is in the Kremlin. Putin
and his entourage can never be happy with having NATO be Europe's most powerful security institution, since Moscow is not a member and
cannot become one. Similarly, the Russians will always object to NATO's missile defense efforts since they can neither match
them nor join them in any meaningful way. In the case of Iran, Russian officials genuinely perceive less of a threat from Tehran than do most
Americans, and Russia has more to lose from a cessation of economic ties with Iran -- as well as from an Iranian-Western reconciliation. On the
other hand, these conflicts can be managed, since they will likely remain limited and compartmentalized. Russia and
the West do not have fundamentally conflicting vital interests of the kind countries would go to war over. And
as the Cold War demonstrated, nuclear weapons are a great pacifier under such conditions. Another novel development is that
Russia is much more integrated into the international economy and global society than the Soviet Union was, and
Putin's popularity depends heavily on his economic track record . Beyond that, there are objective criteria, such as the smaller
size of the Russian population and economy as well as the difficulty of controlling modern means of social
communication, that will constrain whoever is in charge of Russia.
Obama could just veto the corker bill - Obama veto solves the impact - GOP can't get vetoproof majorities
Hoover 9/12/14 (Kent, Washington Bureau Chief @ The Business Journals, "Americans now think Obama is worse
than Bush; plus, he's no Beyonce," http://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/washingtonbureau/2014/09/americansnow-think-obama-is-worse-than-bushplus.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A%20industry_6%20%28Industry
%20Health%20Care%29&page=all)
Obama’s poor poll numbers are a problem, not only for him, but also for Democrats running for re-election this
fall. The party occupying the White House usually loses seats in midterm elections, and this year Republicans
have a shot of retaking control of the Senate. If that happens, Obama’s legislative agenda is dead ( it’s already
dormant ) — all the president would be able to do is count on Democratic senators to obstruct Republican
legislation, just like Republicans are obstructing Democratic legislation now. Plus, Obama could always veto
legislation he doesn’t like — no one expects Republicans to win a 67-vote, veto-proof majority.
No turn out – cx was bad here, AP ev doesn’t say anything about turnout, just bc they don’t like
Sam Wang is a neuroscientist at Princeton, why is he writing about the election
GOP will retake the Senate
Kristol 9/18/14 (William, Founder and Editor @ Weekly Standard + Political/Foreign Policy Commentator, "All
Together Now," http://www.weeklystandard.com/print/articles/all-together-now_805307.html)
November 4 is likely to lead to a GOP takeover of the Senate after eight long years of Democratic control, and to perhaps the
largest GOP majority in the House in modern times. It’s an election that could—that should—set the stage for victory in 2016, as the Democrats’
triumph in 2006 set the stage for victory in 2008. So even though it’s contrary to interest for an opinion magazine to suggest a time out from
groaning and sniping and grumbling—and even though we reserve the right to groan and snipe and grumble at our discretion—maybe it’s a good
moment for everyone out there who thinks the country is endangered by Barack Obama, that it is being damaged by Harry Reid, and that it would
be ruined by another Democratic presidential victory in 2016 to take a deep breath, let bygones be bygones, leave future concerns to the future,
and work to win in November. Fear of the Democrats should be a sufficient motive. But is there anything else to be said to inspire voters to vote,
donors to donate, and activists to activate? Yes. The Republican class of 2014 candidates are very impressive. A glance at
their biographies would show an unusual number of high-quality men and women, many of whom have real achievements outside politics, few of
whom are career politicians or children of politicians. From Tom Cotton in Arkansas to Joni Ernst in Iowa; from Ben Sasse in
Nebraska to Dan Sullivan in Alaska; from Elise Stefanik in upstate New York to Lee Zeldin on Long Island; from Marilinda Garcia in
western New Hampshire to Martha McSally in southeastern Arizona—a new generation of Republicans has stepped forward
worthy of support. And a glance at their birth dates would show that the Grand Old Party is this year the party of youth. For example:
There are seven marquee Senate races in which the Republican candidate has a good chance to take a
Democratic seat (on top of virtually certain pickups in West Virginia, Montana, and South Dakota ). It is on these
races that control of the Senate will hinge. In all of these contests—Arkansas, Alaska, Louisiana, North Carolina, Iowa, Colorado, and
New Hampshire—the Republican challenger is younger than his or her Democratic opponent. Looking at the GOP field in 2014, it’s
perhaps an exaggeration to invoke John F. Kennedy’s words: “The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans . . . tempered by war,
disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage—and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights
to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.” But looking at these
candidates, Republicans would be justified in thinking—as Democrats thought in 1958, two years before Kennedy’s inauguration—that theirs is
the party of youth and energy, of new ideas and bold imagination. In the 1958 off-year elections, Democrats increased their
majority in the House by 48 and won 13 Republican Senate seats, defeating 10 Republican incumbents. The GOP won’t achieve a
victory of that magnitude in 2014. But they can aspire to big gains , especially when polls show disapproval of
Obama high, Republicans leading in the generic congressional ballot, and
a slew of Democratic incumbents below 50 percent.
GOP will retake the Senate but NEW issues can impact the election
Cook 9/16/14 (Charlie, Founder @ Cook Political Report + Columnist @ National Journal, "What Could Go Wrong
For GOP?" http://www.nationaljournal.com/off-to-the-races/what-could-go-wrong-for-gop-20140915)
At this point, most independent political analysts are giving the edge to Republicans in this year's fight for
majority status in the U.S. Senate. Personally, I give the GOP a 60 percent chance of taking the majority ,
while others put it a little higher or lower. At least a half dozen very close races will be determined by just a
point or two, and those can turn on events that may have yet to occur, making the battle for the majority very
volatile. So far, the political season has been wild enough. Who knew that hog castration, trespassing chickens, and
inappropriately billed charter flights costing less than $2,000 would take on such outsize importance?
Prefer Cook – he’s the PREMIER election analyst
Milbank 6 (Dana, Wash Post, 10/25, "When It Comes to Politics, Charlie Cook Has the Prophecy Market
Cornered," http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/24/AR2006102401248_pf.html)
The pharaoh had Joseph. The Greeks had the Oracle at Delphi. Washington has Charlie Cook .¶ Please tell us, Seer
of Future Congresses, how many seats the Democrats will pick up in the House on Election Day. ¶ "Twenty to 35," Cook answers.¶ And how
about in the Senate, OProphet on the Potomac?¶ "At least four," the man with the crystal ball says. "Most likely five or six."¶ What fate does the
seer see for Sen. George Allen (R-Va.)?¶ "He wins ugly, but he wins," Cook divines.¶ And, pray tell, how are the planets aligning for Rep. Curt
Weldon (R-Pa.)?¶ "Gone," he decrees.¶ The midterm elections are two weeks away, but the powerful cannot wait that long to learn of the
outcome. And so they call in Cook, who, for a fee of $5,000 to $20,000, gives his audiences the (very) early returns.¶ Last week he spoke to
pharmaceutical and insurance groups. On Monday, he flew to Las Vegas and back to talk to the American Beverage Association. Later this week
it's American Express and a hedge fund in New York and the paper industry in Georgia. Yesterday found Cook at a breakfast with the DLA Piper
law firm, lunch with automobile manufacturers and dinner in Boston with a corporate housing group. ¶ All are looking for the same thing: next
month's election returns. And Cook has them. "Senators Santorum in Pennsylvania and Mike DeWine in Ohio are pretty much done," he told the
Piper audience at the Willard hotel. And the lifelines of Sens. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.) and Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.) aren't looking any longer. "I'd
be surprised if any of those four can survive," Cook informed the crowd of lobbyists, diplomats and journalists. ¶ The firm's representatives treated
their visiting sage with great deference. James Blanchard,
a former Michigan governor, introduced him as "a renowned
expert. " Former defense secretary Bill Cohen read Cook's credentials to the audience: "one of the best political
handicappers . . . the Picasso of election analysis ."¶ "He's hot," observed Rosemary Freeman, one of the event coordinators.¶
That's not the first description that comes to mind for Cook, who entered the ballroom lugging an overstuffed canvas bag, a torn, padded envelope
and an overflowing blue file folder. Chubby and partial to big eyeglasses, he had the tail of his tie tucked into his shirt. He planted his Starbucks
venti caffe latte on the head table, where he was joined by the Canadian ambassador and a former NATO secretary general. ¶ Cook's wellrehearsed speech includes a reference to his posterior, an allusion to the movie "Young Frankenstein," and a tortured metaphor involving storms
and levees to compare the 2006 election to the one in 1994. "The wave is bigger, but there are fewer structures on the beach," he forecast.¶ Cook
is not the boldest of election prognosticators (that honor goes to Stuart Rothenberg), nor the most telegenic
(washingtonpost.com's Chris Cillizza gets the nod there), but he is surely the most prominent . On contract with NBC, he was on
"Meet the Press" on Sunday and taped segments for the "Today Show" and "NBC Nightly News." He commissions his own poll, and his column
appears once a week in the National Journal. A Nexis search finds 873 mentions in the past 60 days for him and his company, the Cook Political
Report.¶ And while he's not always on the mark (he admits to having "tread marks on my forehead" after understating the Republican gains in
'94) he's close enough that nobody challenges his forecasts . "I'm not as much of an expert as he is, so I have to defer to him," said Dick
Gephardt, a former House Democratic leader, after Cook's talk to the Piper firm.
Strong public support for online gambling legalization – prevents GOP wanting to ban it
Renfro 14 (Ashleigh, JD Candidate @ Texas A&M Law School, "ALL IN WITH JACK HIGH: DICRISTINA AS
THE FINAL SURGE TO FEDERALLY LEGALIZE ONLINE TEXAS HOLD 'EM POKER," 1 Tex. A&M L. Rev.
751, lexis)
Each wave of gambling had at least one activity with the ability to draw the masses. n81 Today, T.H.E. is that activity. Millions of Americans play T.H.E. poker
in every community of every state in the union. n82 Like the steamboats that eventually created the riverboat gambler, T.H.E. created the online poker player. And like
the first two waves, the fast rising money-making ability of online T.H.E. poker gave rise to scandal. In true wave form, the grim state of the economy, coupled
with the revenue raising power of online T.H.E. poker, has Congress taking a second look at one of the most
publicly demanded gambling activities of this era . To understand what is at stake if Congress decides to legalize and regulate T.H.E. poker, or maintain its
illegality, it is important to know how this potential online wave evolved. 1. Texas Hold 'Em - Not Your Grandfather's Card Game a. Basic Game Play T.H.E. poker has been described as a mix
between reason, intuition, and bravado. n83 In a clockwise rotation, two players begin the hand by [*762] posting their "blinds." n84 Next, each player gets two cards face down, and based on his
perceived value of these two cards, places a bet or folds. n85 After every player has either folded, called the minimum bet, or raised, the dealer lays three cards face up where the players then use
those three cards to create a combination of the best five cards. n86 Now, players may bet, raise, or fold to bets before them, but must keep in mind that two more cards will be dealt, each
followed by a round of bets. The rounds of bets serve as a way for the strong hands to put their money behind their cards, or for bluffers to persuade other players to fold. b. Rise in Popularity It
T.H.E. poker, n87 as the card game is a favorite Friday
night activity for millions of Americans. In fact, one is hard-pressed not to be able to find either a nearby casino featuring the game as its main poker room
is apparent why the Texas State Legislature officially recognized Robstown, Texas, as the "birthplace" of
attraction, a home game, or a local pub sponsoring a charity T.H.E. game. With the advent of the World Series of Poker in 1970 and increased television coverage emerging soon after, n88
T.H.E. became mainstream. n89 Its popularity was just beginning as today, nearly every major casino in Las Vegas features an exclusive T.H.E. poker room. n90 In 2012, the Rio All-Suite Hotel
and Casino hosted the forty-third annual World Series of Poker Main Event with more than 6,500 players buying in at $ 10,000 a seat. n91 In the end, the winner took home more than eight
million dollars. n92 2. The Internet Boom and Collapse Most recently, the advent of the internet surged forward the popularity of online gambling and gave Americans the opportunity to place a
Many credit Chris Moneymaker's "rags-to-riches" story for sparking the
popularity of online T.H.E. poker . n93 Before 2011, millions of American's obtained accounts on major poker sites such as Poker Stars, Full
bet or play a hand of cards, all in the click of a button.
overnight
[*763]
Tilt, or Absolute Poker. Anytime day or night, one could use a debit card, load funds, and play online T.H.E. poker against other players from around the world. The economic impact was
enormous, and at the peak of online poker play, revenues amounted to roughly sixty billion dollars worldwide, with tax revenues of American's accounting for over three billion dollars. n94 Like
other gambling booms, however, scandal interrupted online T.H.E. poker's growth. On April 15, 2011, or as known in the gambling world, Black Friday, the Department of Justice kicked in the
doors of the virtual casinos. n95 The founders of the three largest online poker sites - Poker Stars, Full Tilt, and Absolute Poker - were indicted under the Unlawful Internet Gambling
Enforcement Act (UIGEA). The government alleged that the companies used fraudulent methods to circumvent federal laws and trick banks into processing online gambling payments. n96 From
that fateful day in 2011, the interstate online T.H.E. industry has remained crippled, even amidst outspoken support for regulation by key members of Congress, including Senate Majority
Leader, Harry Reid. n97 More recently, while Congress has attempted to legalize online poker while keeping most other games illegal, it remains at an impasse. n98 C. Basic Gambling
Regulation: Federal and State Schematic Interplay The federal government leaves gambling regulation primarily to the states. n99 As such, some states choose to prohibit most types of gambling,
while others allow some forms of legal gambling including lotteries, charitable bingo, and pari-mutuel horseracing. n100 Conversely, [*764] two states, Utah and Hawaii, have completely
prohibited all types of gambling n101 while states like Nevada and New Jersey take a more liberal approach - setting up licensing schemes for hotels and casinos. n102 Along those same lines,
states have chosen different types of regulatory schemes to govern the activities. Many states choose to regulate with a common scheme that prohibits games of chance, i.e., games determined
entirely or partly by luck, whereby skill does not help one's chances of winning. n103 Common games of chance include craps, raffles, and roulette. n104 Conversely, some states allow games of
skill, i.e., games in which success depends primarily on superior knowledge, experience, attention, and an ability to overcome luck. n105 Some examples include chess, darts, pool, n106 and
fantasy sports leagues. n107 Congress may only regulate gambling so long as the activity falls within the confines of the Commerce Clause. n108 For example, one of the first pieces of federal
legislation was the 1895 Federal Lottery Act that prevented citizens from transporting foreign lottery tickets across state lines. n109 Today, the major pieces of federal legislation include the Wire
Act, the Travel Act, the Illegal Gambling Business Act, n110 and the UIGEA. n111 The FBI notes on its website that online gambling is illegal, n112 but currently, no federal law explicitly
makes online T.H.E. poker illegal. Instead, online gambling faces indirect obstacles. While Delaware, New Jersey, and Nevada have introduced legislation regulating internet gambling within
their borders, n113 indirect federal laws remain that prohibit interstate online gambling. n114 For example, the Wire Act, enacted in 1961, makes it a crime to knowingly, through wire
communications, transmit bets or help others [*765] transmit bets in interstate commerce. n115 Basically, it prohibits online wagering though wire communications in order to transmit, or assist
in the transmission of bets or related information for placing bets. n116 Though not entirely clear what types of gambling fall under the Act's purview, a recent Obama Administration initiative solidifying a 2002 Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision - directs that the Wire Act applies only to internet sports betting. n117 The UIGEA also indirectly prohibits online gambling. The
UIGEA prohibits third-party organizations from providing monetary transfer services for online gambling companies. n118 In other words, the Act makes the receipt of payment with respect to
international or interstate online gambling illegal. n119 This indirectly applies to financial intermediaries by creating liability in aiding and abetting situations. n120 III. Prior Law and attempts at
Winning the Skill-Versus-Chance Argument The skill-versus-chance argument surrounding T.H.E. poker allows proponents to distinguish the game from other forms of online gambling. n121
To cast an activity into the illegal or regulated sphere of gambling, there typically must be a prize, chance, and consideration. n122 Proponents of online poker legalization urge that T.H.E. poker
is not a chance-based game. n123 Until DiCristina, whether poker was considered a skill-based game was a "matter of public and judicial debate." n124 Some state lawmakers, however, have
taken the debate away from the courts, and have explicitly or implicitly codified poker as illegal gambling or included it in [*766] their definitions of illegal games of chance. n125 Where
statutes do not address the issue, state courts have typically come down on the side of poker being a game of chance. n126 For example, in Joker Club v. Hardin, the North Carolina Court of
Appeals held that although poker involves a great amount of skill, it is predominated by chance. n127 The court reasoned that while in the end, the most skilled player would accumulate the
majority of chips, single hands are predominated by chance. n128 Further, the court explained that the test involved a question of whether skill or chance predominated, not whether there was
skill or chance involved. n129 Based on this reasoning, the court stated that timely bluffing and odds analysis capabilities make it more likely for skilled players to win, but "no amount of skill
can change a deuce into an ace." n130 Similarly, in Pennsylvania v. Dent, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court looked closer at the skill-versus-chance issue. n131 The trial and appellate court found
it apparent that skill predominated chance in T.H.E. poker. n132 Each stated that players have a distinct possibility of exercising skill and each has sufficient data available to make an informed
judgment. n133 The Supreme Court, however, reversed, stating that while the outcome of a game of poker is dependent on some degree of skill, it is predominantly a game of chance. n134
Likewise, in Colorado v. Raley, the trial court ruled in favor of the defendants who operated a weekly T.H.E. poker game at a local bar. n135 The court heard expert testimony from University of
Denver statistics and mathematics professor, Robert Hannum, who stated that [*767] the skilled player wins ninety-seven percent of the time. n136 The jury found the defendants not guilty, but
on appeal, the district court found that it was error to admit Hannum's testimony as the skill-versus-chance argument was a question of law. n137 Federally, many circuits have held poker to be a
game of chance. n138 Pertinent to this Comment, the Second Circuit has ruled that poker is a game of chance, but only on a narrow scope. n139 For example, in United States v. Gotti, the
defendant operated a poker business featuring a variant of poker called Joker Poker. This variant of poker, however, involved significantly less skill than T.H.E. poker. n140 IV. Going All In
with Jack High: United States v. DiCristina The time was ripe for a close look at the complexities of T.H.E. poker, and it began when Lawrence DiCristina went all in on the theory that it is a
game of skill - a category free from the IGBA's purview. In what some consider a "landmark opinion," n141 the Eastern District definitively agreed with DiCristina and declared T.H.E. poker a
skill-based game. n142 In doing so, the court arguably turned federal poker law on its head. n143 To reach its conclusion, the Eastern District took a thorough approach and looked at the inner
workings of the statute itself and the intricacies of the game. A. Background Lawrence DiCristina was the owner of an electronic bicycle business n144 in Staten Island, New York, as well as a
T.H.E. enthusiast. Every Monday and Thursday night, DiCristina housed and hosted a T.H.E. poker room under the lights of the business's warehouse. n145 Players typically arrived at 10:00
p.m. and bought in for $ 100-$ 300 a [*768] seat. n146 Play sometimes lasted until 7:00 a.m. the next morning n147 and allowed DiCristina to collect a five percent rake n148 - that is until
federal agents learned of the two-night-a-week operation. n149 In June 2011, special agents arrested DiCristina and others for operating an illegal gambling business. n150 With the sound of
shuffling cards and falling chips only a memory, DiCristina faced charges of violating the IGBA. n151 In December 2011, a grand jury charged DiCristina with violating the IGBA by operating
an illegal gambling business involving poker and conspiring with others to do so. n152 Before trial, DiCristina moved to dismiss the indictment arguing that poker is not illegal under the IGBA.
n153 Specifically, DiCristina claimed that the IGBA's text and legislative history clearly indicate that the IGBA does not include T.H.E. poker. n154 Moreover, he claimed that poker was a skill,
not chance-based game and could not fall under IGBA's definition of illegal gambling. n155 During trial, Dr. Randall Heeb - economist, statistician, and poker player himself - gave expert
testimony pertaining to the defense's skill theory. n156 The court, however, ruled that the issue was a question of law and excluded the testimony, but reserved decision on the motion to dismiss.
n157 The jury found DiCristina guilty of the offenses of operating an illegal gambling business and of conspiring to do so. n158 After its verdict, however, DiCristina renewed his motion to
dismiss n159 and looked to the Eastern District to decide the skill-versus-chance argument. B. The Decision From the start, Judge Weinstein conceded that poker is an illegal game of chance
under New York state law. n160 Equally important, however, was his clarification that the issue before the Eastern District was "whether a business involving illegal poker games violated the
[*769] federal IGBA." n161 In deciding the issue, the Eastern District looked at the IGBA and focused on three matters: the text, the legislative history, and T.H.E. poker's characterization as
either a game of skill or a game of chance. To begin, the court focused its attention on the statute's text. The IGBA makes it a crime for anyone to conduct or manage an illegal gambling business.
n162 "Gambling," as defined by the statute, "includes but is not limited to pool-selling, bookmaking, maintaining slot machines, roulette wheels or dice tables, and conducting lotteries, policy,
bolita or numbers games, or selling chances therein." n163 Thus, to convict DiCristina under the IGBA, the government had to show a violation of New York state law, and show that the activity
was included in the IGBA's definitions of illegal gambling. The Eastern District looked to the list of "gambling" activities and concluded that poker did not fall within the category of those listed
games. n164 In its interpretation, the court stated that poker must be "sufficiently similar" to those listed in the statute, n165 and agreed with DiCristina that the games listed were all games
predominated by chance. n166 The court also looked at dictionary and common law definitions of gambling and determined that in those, the element of chance plays a larger role. n167 The
Eastern District found that if Congress wanted to limit confusion, it could have specified that "illegal gambling" under the IGBA included all games prohibited by state law. n168 After all,
Congress had chosen to do this in other federal statutes. n169 Judge Weinstein noted DiCristina's point that Congress "does not ... hide elephants in mouseholes," n170 and stated that poker is
that elephant, perhaps even an "eight hundred pound gorilla" that Congress would not have ignored. n171 In other words, if Congress wanted to include poker in the list of illegal gambling
activities, it easily could have. Helping further interpret the IGBA's ambiguities, the Eastern District looked at the statute's legislative history and asked whether Congress [*770] intended to
include T.H.E. poker as illegal gambling. n172 Judge Weinstein pointed out that the purpose of the statute was to answer concerns about organized crime. n173 In particular, the IGBA was meant
to give the federal government "a new substantive weapon ... to strike at organized crime's principal source of revenue: illegal gambling." n174 The court noted that Congress did not discuss what
kinds of games to regulate beyond those actually listed in the statute, n175 but stated that those listed appear to be the types perceived as most in danger of organized crime influence. n176
Solidifying the decision, the Eastern District pushed forward to give a very specific and analytical answer to the classic skill-versus-chance argument. The court conceded that many state laws
and courts classify poker as a game of chance, n177 but refused to rely on those analyses for the IGBA's classification. n178 To begin, the court noted that while some players' actions benefit
from chance, their decisions skillfully overcome that element of chance. n179 The court stated that the majority of poker hands end when one player induces another to fold, and because a player
never reveals his cards, his decisions alone can determine the outcome, even with a weak hand. n180 This, the court stated, distinguished poker from other games listed in the IGBA. n181 Next,
where the trial court dismissed Dr. Heeb's testimony as irrelevant, the Eastern District considered it and opined that Dr. Heeb's testimony was persuasive evidence proving that skill predominates.
n182 The Eastern District summarized that (1) poker involves a large number of complex decisions, which allow players of varying skill to differentiate themselves, (2) many people play poker
for a living and consistently win money over time, (3) players who obtain superior results with other starting hands tend to obtain superior results with any given hand, indicating that the players'
abilities, not the cards, are responsible for the results, and (4) the published studies are all consistent with these conclusions. n183 [*771] More specifically, the court looked at Dr. Heeb's
testimony highlighting the "skilled strategic choices" made by poker players. n184 He opined that this skill could include many things, including how much to wager, whether to play a hand at
all, or whether to bluff, raise, or fold. n185 The Eastern District agreed, stating that, "bluffing, raising, and folding require honed skills to maximize the value of the cards dealt by Lady Luck."
n186 Additionally, the court also noted that the skill used in T.H.E. poker differs from other forms of gambling. n187 Particularly, the best players can rely on their sophistication to change the
outcome of the entire game - so much so that many people make a living from playing poker as opposed to other types of gambling. n188 Perhaps solidifying T.H.E.'s legitimacy was the court's
use of Dr. Heeb's win-rate studies. n189 The first study examined whether a player's win rate on all hands was predictive of their success in a particular kind of hand. n190 Dr. Heeb concluded
that a player's skill did in fact show through and had an impact on the amount of money won or lost based on a particular hand. n191 In addition, the court considered Dr. Heeb's use of "complex
regression analysis" to show that skill predominates in poker. n192 In this analysis, Dr. Heeb created a skill index that related how skillfully one played in relation to actual win rates. n193 This
index showed whether more skilled poker players actually won more money than those of lower skill levels. n194 The court took notice of the results of the analysis and Dr. Heeb's statement that
"the lowest skill players according to the predicted skill index in fact achieve much worse results. Average players still don't do very well. Very good players are winning players." n195 Finally,
the court noted that Dr. Heeb himself looked at other studies in unpublished or published newspapers and the results remain the same - poker is predominated by skill. n196 With this in mind, the
court considered the government's expert witness, Dr. DeRosa, who did not [*772] present any contrary analysis proving that chance predominated over skill. n197 Based on the overwhelming
evidence suggesting that T.H.E. poker is predominated by skill, and the government's lack of evidence indicating otherwise, the court held that under the IGBA, T.H.E. poker is a game
predominated by skill, not chance. n198 After this conclusion combined with the conclusions on the IGBA's text and legislative history, the court dismissed the conviction, and for the time being,
allowed DiCristina's record to remain free from IGBA violations. In August 2013, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the Eastern District's decision on interpretive grounds, holding
that the plain language of the IGBA includes T.H.E. poker. n199 While the Eastern District's interpretation of the IGBA fails, its careful look at the skill-versus-chance argument remains intact
and provides lawmakers with a solid foundation moving forward as the Second Circuit did not invalidate this analysis, opining that the "question of whether skill or chance predominates in poker
is inapposite to [the] appeal." n200 V. Surging Forward After DiCristina After DiCristina, the time is as ripe as ever for legalized online T.H.E. poker. As evidenced by the prior waves, gambling
is an industry that looks at the past to help mold the future. n201 This perhaps accounts for the waves of regulation, to prohibition, and back to regulation again. Looking at the future of online
T.H.E. poker relative to waves past, Congress should deliberately push forth a bill to legalize online T.H.E. poker. Not only do recent developments surrounding online T.H.E. poker mirror
surges of the past, but DiCristina resolved one of the last great debates standing in the way of legalization. Together these surges stand as the final strongholds to make one of America's pastimes
a lawful online activity. A. Shaping the Future Relative to History: Recent Developments Mirroring Surges of Waves Past Each of the three waves of gambling regulation came in response to a
The potential
online gambling wave follows on a parallel path. Today, in legalizing online T.H.E. poker, Congress [*773] could
respond to a struggling economy, and further protect the security of an American public that all but demands legalization . And if
pressing need of the time. But before new laws formed, going from prohibition to regulation in each wave required intervening surges to push forth new regulations.
looking at our past is indicative of future reform, current developments mirroring surges of the past favor new legalizations.
***THE = Texas Hold Em
Obama and national issues not key – local factors and candidate quality key to Senate races
Tobin 9/17/14 (Jonathan, Political Columnist @ Commentary, "Dem Senate Comeback May Be Fool’s Gold,"
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/2014/09/17/dem-senate-comeback-may-be-fools-gold-midterms/)
The need to frame the midterms in terms of a wave is understandable. Journalists love a story that they can wrap up in a neat unifying package
that explains everything. That’s why so many political pundits are so eager to try to interpret any national election—even
a congressional midterm which is really dozens if not hundreds of separate races piled together—through a single lens. The
is more the product
of a host of local factors rather than a national tide sweeping the nation. That’s an important lesson for pundits to remember in
problem is that even when such elections produce a big victory for either party, the reason for all these results often
2014. Within the last couple of days, the New York Times’s Upshot, the Washington Post’s The Fix, and Nate Silver’s Five-Thirty-Eight all
reversed their previous findings showing the GOP as the big favorite to take the Senate and now say it is a tossup. They didn’t agree as to the
reason for this momentum swing. Silver believes the decisive factor is a Democratic edge in campaign fundraising with liberal and Democratic
Super PACs outspending conservative and Republican ones. He may be right about that. Now that the campaign has begun in earnest, Democrats
are using their considerable resources, with the aid of their reliable cheering section in the mainstream press, to paint GOP opponents as either
extremists (as they are trying to do to Joni Ernst in Iowa) or sexist fools (as they seem to have done with Thom Tillis in North Carolina who is
still dealing with the “mansplaining” charge lodged against him). Moreover, the
more you break down the 2014 races, the more
apparent that national trends can be irrelevant to Senate races . That’s certainly true in deep-red Kansas
where incumbent GOP Senator Pat Roberts finds himself in deep trouble because he is considered out of touch with a state that he doesn’t live in
much anymore. The willingness of his Democratic opponent to pull out of the state in favor of a Democrat-leaning independent has transformed
Kansas from a GOP lock to a possible loss. Indeed, as much as money, political pragmatism seems to be the best weapon in the Democrat arsenal
this year. Wherever Democrats are doing better or holding their own, it is largely because they are seeking to
distance themselves from both President Obama and the national Democratic Party. Both North Carolina incumbent Kay Hagan
and Georgia challenger Michelle Nunn have been adept in fleeing the president’s embrace. Viewed in isolation, these races
not only confound any thought of a Republican midterm wave but also remind us that elections
basis of the ability of the candidates more than the party labels they wear.
are principally decided on the
Congress isn't in session - plan happens after the midterms
Marcos 9/18/14 (Cristina, The Hill, "Lawmakers exit Washington to campaign," http://thehill.com/blogs/flooraction/scheduling/218296-lawmakers-leave-washington-to-campaign)
After just eight days in session following a five-week summer recess, the House and Senate have adjourned until after the
midterm elections so members can hit the campaign trail. Both chambers are scheduled to return Wednesday, Nov. 12.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) office announced Thursday that, in a departure from the original schedule, the House
would not be in session Friday or the week of Sept. 29. Senators were in just as much of a hurry to leave
Washington as soon as they cleared a stopgap funding bill to avoid a government shutdown on Oct. 1 with an authorization to
arm Syrian rebels to fight Islamic extremists. With little other "must-do" legislation left on the agenda, both chambers of Congress
closed the brief, yet intense, September session. The recess between now and the week after the Nov. 4 elections
will last seven weeks, which is even longer than the five-week August break. Those seven weeks will be the last critical stretch of
campaigning for incumbent lawmakers, especially Senate Democrats trying to keep control of the upper chamber. House Republicans are not
expected to lose their majority in this year's elections, but members in a handful of competitive districts were hard-pressed to wrap up work in
Washington. House Democratic leaders called a press conference Thursday designed specifically to chide GOP leaders for leaving Washington
this week — nearly two months ahead of the Nov. 4 elections. "The American people have to ask: 'What do you do for a living?'" Minority
Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said. Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, further
piled onto House Republicans for leaving town as soon as members passed a measure to prevent another government shutdown. "House
Republicans are now abandoning any pretense of doing actual work for the American people, skipping town one day after doing the bare
minimum required to keep the government functioning but blocking any progress for the middle class," Israel said.
Economy key to the midterms – overshadows other issues
Rogers 9/16/14 (Ed, Wash Post, "The Insiders: It's still about the economy,"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2014/09/16/the-insiders-its-still-about-the-economy/)
Anyway, national security issues are important and today, our national security demands attention. It would be
irresponsible for Republicans to ignore the growing global chaos and the real threats our country faces. But
everything in modern campaign history teaches us that the election in November will still mostly be about the
economy . So it’s little wonder that the growing number of signs pointing to Republicans regaining control of the
Senate have coincided with recent polls showing an increase in voters’ disapproval of how the Democrats are
handling economic issues. In the latest Politico poll, 57 percent of Americans said they “disapprove of his
[President Obama’s] economic leadership.” The Democrats know this, so perhaps to some of the Democratic
leadership, the international crises represent something of a mixed blessing. Ordinarily, Americans would rally to —
or at least defer to — the president during times of international strife. Obama’s problem is that he is seen as part of
the problem, not the solution to America’s waning influence and the growing threats that follow. Meanwhile,
although the president engages in happy talk on the economy, the Democrats’ disconnect on this issue infuriates
voters. For instance, the same Politico poll also showed that, “by every measure in the survey, a gloomy mood
still pervades the electorate when it comes to kitchen-table issues: Just 23 percent say their personal financial
situation has improved over the past year, versus 30 percent who say it has gotten worse.” The poll is focused
on likely voters in 2014 battleground states, so these results reveal a lot about the mood of our country. With 77
percent saying they are worse off or at least no better off than they were last year, Obama’s attempts to take credit
for an economic recovery only confirms how detached from reality he and Democrats on the ballot in November
have become. The bottom line is that voters vote with their pocketbooks. This has been and will remain true.
No matter what is happening around the world — short of a direct attack against the United States — the weak
economy, anemic job growth and high cost and economic disruption caused by Obamacare must reign at the top of
the GOP election agenda.