The Bush administration, it seems, is intent on crating discord up until the final days before Obama’s inauguration. What motives they could possibly have to force quickly the Treasury to define as of yet unclear definitions of ‘online gambling’ and ‘improper payments’ are still unknown.
 
There’s a possibility that the Republicans are simply following a tradition of passing and implementing controversial measures in an effort of giving the successor a clean desk from which to work. Possibly more likely, however, is the idea that a Democratic government will repeal the UIGEA completely. It’s far more plausible to explain the rush towards action, despite an influx of letters and correspondence from government departments, leaders of financial institutions, members of Congress, foreign policy experts, and the internet-savvy from all over the world. October 21st saw new rules applicable to the definitions of illegal gambling transactions and which transferences between casinos and credit cards, and banks are punishable; the guidelines were forwarded for final review by the office of Management and Budget before being activated.

At this point, the only exceptions look to be horse and dog racing events, whose representatives have already had meetings imploring to be excluded. Other conversations have been noted between the OMB and the Interactive Gaming Council, as well as other groups strong in the online casino world. Friday will see Director John Pappas of the Poker Players Alliance have his say: “It's really remarkable that this administration would try to push this out given the burden it would place on financial institutions at this time of financial crisis.”