Focus on the Family produced a YouTube video voicing their opposition to the Reid/Kyl bill. This bill is also known as the Internet Gambling Prohibition, Poker Consumer Protection, and Strengthening of the UIGEA Act of 2012. This bill is seen by virtually anyone that is familiar with it as being an anti gambling bill. I would have thought this type of bill would be exactly what a group like Focus on the Family would support. It bans virtually all forms of internet gambling but exempts online poker provided a state opts in through its legislature to participate.
I am against Reid/Kyl as well. I believe gambling is a state right and the federal government has no business getting involved in it. Most state governors and lotteries share my view as they want to have the right to offer more than just online poker or at least do not want the federal government meddling in their affairs. That is a right currently allowed through the current interpretation of the Wire Act of 1961.
Some anti gambling groups are also opposed to Reid/Kyl. I feel that opposition is misguided since it bans virtually all forms of online gambling. Focus on the Family goes beyond being just a little misguided. They either intentionally lie about the bill or have not bothered to read it.
Focus on the Family Anti Reid/Kyl Video
Focus on the Family produced a six minute video airing their opposition to Reid/Kyl. Chad Hills, Focus on the Family’s gambling analyst, is interviewed for this episode of CitizenLink. Hills has been involved with Focus on the Family since 2000. He was a microbiologist and chemist before joining them. He does not appear to have any background in the gaming industry beyond his opposition to it.
The video starts with Focus on the Family begging for money. Chad Hills then goes on a rant about how he is opposed to online gambling. He starts by getting the name of the bill wrong. Next, he states that Reid/Kyl would legalize online poker. That is not true, Reid/Kyl would give states the framework to offer online poker within their borders. States would still have to opt in to online poker.
His rant continues about how online poker would be in every home, school, library and everywhere else. Since states would have to opt in, and several states already have laws that would forbid it, so this cannot happen. This portion of his speech does not even take into consideration the numerous software programs that would block online poker in schools, libraries and anywhere else he feels it does not belong.
Stuart Shepard, who is giving the interview, states that poker players will proclaim that poker is a game of skill. He does not dispute this claim, he simply moves to a question about how online poker affects families and Hills continues his anti gambling speech.
Hills continues with how more forms of online gambling would be legalized right behind online poker. If he researched the history he would know there is far more opposition to legalizing house games as opposed to online poker, even within casino companies. Sheldon Adelson is CEO of one of the largest casino companies in the world. He was the largest contributor to the Republican Party during the November elections. Adelson is adamantly opposed to online casinos and is very influential. Why doesn’t Mills know this?
Hills then claims that there is no way to prevent underage gambling, money laundering and organized crime. This is a tired argument that nobody has ever proven and the dozens of countries that already regulate online poker are proof this is not an issue. There are plenty of safeguards to prevent minors from accessing online poker. Poker accounts would be scrutinized with the same security methods bank accounts are. Organized crime is involved with unregulated gambling, not one that is watched closely by the government. The lack of knowledge possessed by Hills on the subject of gambling really shined through during this segment.
An obvious omission from this video was that Focus on the family supported the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in 2006. This law legalized online horse racing, state lotteries and fantasy sports. This group has a past of supporting some expansion of legalized gambling in exchange for strengthening gambling laws and this bill is much stronger than the UIGEA.
Unfounded Problem Gambling Statistics
Apparently Mr. Hills feels that two in five online gamblers are hopelessly addicted. I have found many studies on this. Virtually all of them show that number to be 5-8%. I invite Mr. Hills to provide the public with his study and sources for this comment. Most problem gamblers are addicted to video poker and slots, both of which would be banned under Reid/Kyl, making his opposition even more puzzling.
Hills then goes on and on about state lotteries and their expansion into gambling. He fails to recognize that Reid/Kyl would put an end to all of his concerns about state lotteries expanding into casino games. Delaware and Georgia have already passed laws that would allow this. They both appear to be waiting to see if this bill will pass before launching their new products.
Focus on the Family Spends Most of its Money on Itself
Now that I have exposed the complete lack of knowledge of Chad Hills and Focus on the Family, I wanted to share some things I discovered while researching their nonprofit organization. Nonprofits must file tax returns. These returns are public information. I found some interesting things within their 2009 and 2010 tax returns.
According to their last tax return, filed in April 2012, Focus on the Family had $98,322,230 in gross proceeds for the fiscal year that ended September 30, 2011. Most of these funds came from donations. Nearly half of that money was spent in salaries to employees.
While Focus on the Family is begging for money at the start of their CitizenLink episodes on YouTube, their CEO and his travel companions are flying first class for international travel and some domestic travel on trips paid for by Focus on the Family. This is disclosed on the tax returns. In fact, their typical travel expense in a fiscal year is about $1.5 million.
This same company spent about $2.5 million on a Super Bowl commercial. This advertisement included Tim Tebow. Steve Maegdlin is the former Senior Vice President of Focus on the Family and was involved in the production of this commercial. His marketing company, CSK Strategic Marketing Group, received $2.5 million from Focus on the Family in fiscal year 2009 and $1.75 million in 2010.
The company spent between $3 million and $4 million on marketing in each of the past two years. The company also spent $5 million to $6 million each year on their CitizenLink campaign.
I wonder if people that are donating to Focus on the Family know that virtually all of their contributions are being spent on salaries, travel, marketing and administrative expenses.
While the group is spending millions to raise money they are sitting on $56 million in assets too. This comes from a company that spends more than 60 cents of every dollar on salaries, travel and marketing. In 2011, Focus on the Family spent about $46 million in salary and benefits, $1.5 million in travel, $3.9 million in marketing and $4.8 million for CitizenLink. The company also spent $2 million in professional and office expenses, $3.2 million in information technology, $3 million in occupancy and $6.7 million in other expenses. I am only able to find about $3 million that was actually spent on grants to charities from their $84 million in contributions. To compare, the Salvation Army spends 82 cents of every dollar donated on the community, while Focus on the family spent 3.5% over the past two years. The Better Business Bureau feels that a charity should spend 65% of its donations on the community.
I Respect Focus on the Family’s Rights and Opinion
I am not saying that Focus on the Family is wrong to be against gambling. I have seen some degenerate people in my years in Las Vegas and honestly share some of their concerns. I completely respect their opinion and their right to have it. They just do not need to make up facts to support their cause. In my opinion, it is extremely dishonest for a charity to claim it stands on the highest morals and publish outright lies to advance their agenda.
If they are going to oppose a bill they should at least understand what is actually in the bill and attempt to have an intelligent discussion about it. They are either intentionally spreading misinformation or are completely ignorant. They do not even know the name of the law, much less what the law actually says. The video they published about the Reid/Kyl bill should embarrass them and anyone that has donated money to them should be concerned about their lack of knowledge on the subject and that their donations are being used to spread ignorant or outright dishonest information.
I invite anyone at Focus on the Family to prove me wrong. I have read the entire bill several times. I simply do not see how anyone that has read it could have the opinion that they have so I am calling them out as either lying about reading it or knowingly making up lies about it to further their agenda.
I know that I should not be giving attention to groups like this. I typically ignore them, but this video is so egregious that I felt a rebuttal was in order. Here is the video published by FoF:
100% up to $3,000 Bonus
Bovada is our most recommended ONLINE CASINO and POKER ROOM for US players with excellent deposit options. Get your 100% signup bonus today.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.