OK guys,
I'm certainly not trying to falsely inject any optimism into a dire situation, but I just had a 30-minute telephone conversation with Debbie Richardson, who organized the impromptu Anti-Gambling protest in Washington D.C. this past Monday. Her telephone # and Email address were out on the Net, so I decided to give her a buzz on a whim.
My conversation with her was enlightening. Although Debbie would not admit to me who she is doing this on behalf of, suffice it to say that she is a lobbyist, who has quite a few connections down in Washington (both in the Senate and the House).
Recall, that her name was mentioned in several posts on another board last night:
Internet Gambling Protest Saw Rumors Fly About New Law
Internet Gambling Brought to the Halls of Congress
After speaking with Debbie, she is totally in tune with the fact that Bush cannot Line-item veto the Anti-Gambling bill on Friday, but she states (according to good sources) that there is a very strong chance that Bush can and will elect to throw this legislation back to Congress, since there are many huge loopholes and parts of the bill that just don't make sense (recall that Prof. Rose made similar assertions). This would not be treated as a line-item veto (which Bush is legally NOT permitted to exercise), but would be an exercise of his rights to be able to straighten legislation out that is legally flawed, due to the fact that it was slapped together at the last minute (apparently, according to Debbie, this is legal for him to do on some basis), AND the fact that the final bill was not even seen by many Congressmen, let alone debated. The flawedness came from it being trimmed and re-written in the last moments of a day, so that it could be appended to the Ports Bill. Again, according to Debbie, Bush can (and will) throw it back into the Senate for a 30-day period, where it will be debated properly, written properly to close the loopholes, etc. I neglected to ask her or to mention that Congress is now on "break" for election campaigns, and if this 30-day period gets extended or what. She was articulate and confident in all that she stated to me, but again, I'm just passing the information on as I heard it, and don't stand behind its accuracy (I'm starting to sound like a lawyer !).
If you buy into the above, this would push the signing of this bill to beyond election day - Tuesday, November 7th. As such, Debbie is targeting another mega-rally before the elections (probably Friday, November 3rd AND Saturday, November 4th), which she believes will have a profound impact on elections. She has been told as much by many Congressmen and aides. This rally would be peaceful in nature (no need to worry about getting arrested), and there would be no need to give anyone your name.
Again, apologies abound, if I am innocently sprinkling salts on everyone's wounds, and that what I am spreading here is nothing but false rumor, but I thought that this conversation would be interesting to share with all of you.
If you are interested in communicating with Debbie by Email, or to get on her "rally" distribution list, her Email Address is:
drichardson@bizec.rr.com
I guess we'll all find out what happens on Friday............
I just spoke with Debbie Richardson, protest organizer
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