President George W. Bush's administration is working to finalize a number of legislation before they leave the White House in January. These so called "midnight rules" include finalizing the UIGEA.

"Just like UIGEA was snuck into legislation in the dark of night in 2006, our opponents are again trying an 11th-hour sneak job," said the PPA. "We need you to help us expose and stop this reckless rulemaking."

The U.S. Department of the Treasury finalized the regulations to implement the UIGEA recently according to a Dow Jones Newswires report. The regulations were sent to the Office of Management and Budget Oct. 20.

The UIGEA would effectively ban online gambling in the United States by making it illegal for banks to process transactions to illegal Internet gambling sites.

John Pappas, PPA executive director, met with the Office of Management and Budget officials last Friday to attempt to prevent them from putting the UIGEA on the books. He told media he didn't get a reaction one way or another that the officials will or won't get the rules out before the key date of Nov. 19.

PPA is urging poker players to get involved by calling the U.S. Federal Reserve to tell them not to approve the UIGEA regulations. There are several ways players can contact the Federal Reserve:

[ul][li]Call the Board of Governors at 202-974-7008 or Public Affairs at 202-452-2955[/li][li]Submitting comments at the Federal Reserve site[/li][li]E-mailing the Federal Reserve here[/li][/ul]

The PPA suggests the following points to make when players send their opinions to the Federal Reserve:

[ul][li]The federal agencies responsible for our nation's economy should not be focused on Internet poker regulations. [/li][li]Finalization of the UIGEA rules will add additional burdens on our already crippled financial systems. [/li][li]Internet poker is a game of skill and form of recreation for millions of Americans; it should be exempted from the UIGEA. [/li][li]Please do not finalize the UIGEA regulations until their impact on our banking systems and average Americans has been fully studied.[/li][/ul]

"Your call will make a huge difference and will add the public's voice to these last minute policy decisions our government is poised to make," the PPA said. "We can't stand idly by while they make decisions that will impact our right to play America's card game. Please call today!"

Related Articles:

[ul][li]Treasury Department finalizes UIGEA regulations[/li][li]Govt. files reply to iMEGA's UIGEA appeal[/li][li]Govt. files reply to iMEGA's UIGEA appeal[/li][/ul]
Visit PokerListings.com