Banning of Online Casinos defeated in 2000

This week a story leaked out that in 2000 the former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, secretly helped defeating a proposed online casinos ban. Lots of emotions came with the story, especially from angry conservative and religious groups who wanted to ban online casinos and who thought that Reed was fighting on their side.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that at the time Reed fought against the ban on behalf of one of the online casinos. Reed himself didn't want to comment on the story but his spokesperson Lisa Baron said that he didn't know that he was taking orders from one of the online casinos, because their was a company in between, that he talked to. Now it came to the surface that the real company was a lottery company who wanted to sell their tickets online, and the ban would not make this possible.

Baron added that the reason that Reed didn't back up the ban of online casinos was the fact that the proposal let some online betting types of the hook.

Reed was not the only one opposing the online casinos ban, the Department of Justice, the Southern Baptist Convention, several members of the congress and some anti-gambling organizations were also against the proposal at the time, according to them, for the same reasons as Reed. The proposal didn't concern all forms of gambling in online casinos, for some reason it let horse racing, slot machines, dog tracks and Indian casinos of the hook. So even if the proposal was accepted, it would be still possible for a minor with a connection to the internet to bet in online casinos on horse racing.

Reed stated 5 years ago that he rather backed up a proposal that would ban all forms of gambling in online casinos, than one that is just banning some forms. Supporters of the proposal said that they rather banned a part of the online casinos gambling, than restricting nothing at all. 

Baron claims that Reed didn't know anything about the online casinos lottery company and he wasn't hired by them. Several anti-gambling organizations expressed their doubts about the fact that Reed didn't know that what he was doing was benefiting one of the online casinos. An proponent of the proposal, Tom Grey, Executive Director of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling doesn't believe Reed and he sees Reeds actions as a deceit to the gambling opponents.

Other anti-gambling groups also feel stabbed in the back by Reed, when they found out he helped strike down the proposal in Congress. They see restricting gambling and especially online casinos as a very important goal, since it is a threat for society and a family concern.

Campaign manager of Reed, Jared Thomas, didn't want to explain the specifications of Reed's work to defeat the online casinos proposal nor did he want to disclose Reed's fees.

Reed is now a Republican candidate for Georgia lieutenant governor.

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