Republican Senator Jon Kyl Pork: Good for Port Security

In a briefing with several of his colleagues, Republican Arizona Senator Jon Kyl called the Obama Economic Stimulus bill "a stinking, bloated, quivering pile of liberal pork."  Yet amazingly it was Jon Kyl who had no objections to sticking a bit of his own pork in - of all things - a port security bill.

One might ask what a measure to ban online gambling (complete with exceptions for the powerful horse racing lobbyists) had to do with port security.

That's exactly what Nevada Representative Shelley Berkley was asking after Senator Kyl managed to sneak in his co-authored bill during the final hours before a Congressional recess in October of 2006. 

Berkley criticized the attempts by Kyl to attach language from the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act to a Defense Bill.

"I continue to be amazed by the members of this body who constantly rail against an intrusive federal government, and yet, when it comes to gaming, they are the first to call for more government intrusion," Berkley said in an interview with Gambling911.com shortly after the bill to ban online gambling was passed as part of the Port Security Act. "A man's home is his castle unless he chooses to participate in online gaming. Then his home becomes the province of the federal government."

Now Jon Kyl is crying "foul" over the Obama stimulus package primarily because it contains pork?

Spare us the rhetoric Senator Kyl!

Well at least Jon Kyl has stopped short of referring to President Obama as a "socialist".  He recently told a crowd of Colorado university students that Obama is not a socialist, he just believes in the "tenets of socialism". 

Make no mistake about it, those of us here at Gambling911.com like Jon Kyl.  If it weren't for him and his Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, we wouldn't be working so hard today to get the industry legalized and regulated.   U.S. House Financial Committee Chairman, Barney Frank, has included legalized online gambling as part of his agenda to help prop up the nation's economy.

Now to be fair, Senator Kyl was right about the pork originally appearing in the stimulus bill. 

$1.8 billion for ACORN?

$545 million for the third world gay sensitivity series, "I Want To Bone Chico"?

The problem some of us have with the good Senator is he shouldn't throw stones if he's living in a glass house.

Of course the idea that Senator Kyl would live in a glass house would be too, well, Democratic.

Editorial Piece:  Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher