Midnight Conflict
In another he-said, she-said kindergarten level row over in the white buildings in our nation’s capital, a Democrat Rep. named Steve Cohen has accused William Wichterman of overstepping his bounds and having undo input in our current online casino and slots debate.
The latest debate is over the fairness and legality of the latest Republican push to get a modified version of the UIGEA passed before an accelerated deadline so that when President Elect Obama gets there he won’t be able to do anything to stop it. If the new bill is not passed, it will be thrown out and it will need to start from scratch, from the very beginning of the entire process.
In order for the bill to be adopted by the Bush Administration, both the Treasury and Federal Reserve must go over and sign off on the new language, and also the 60-day incubation period must be satisfied and completed for the new changes to take effect, and some are accusing the Republican party of shady activity that is trying to encourage the adoption of the new portion before the deadline.
The thing with Wichterman is that he used to work with a lobbying firm that has been advocating the UIGEA since the beginning, and did so as recently as the first quarter of 2008. Now he’s been working on that very project in a different capacity, now that he is working inside the White House. Ethics says that he should have deferred that responsibility due to the conflict of interest. Furthermore, the question is raised of whether he will go to his previous position once Bush is finished with his term. His very involvement in the matter will be crucial based on how the UIGEA midnight drop fares.
Back to November 2008 Archive.