POLITICAL EYE: Online poker bill draws ire of Antigua

The online poker bill being drafted in Congress is rekindling harsh feelings in Antigua and Barbuda, the tiny Caribbean nation that has been engaged in a long-running dispute with the United States over Internet gambling.

The sides have failed to come up with a settlement after Antigua filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization and won a 2004 ruling that U.S. laws against online gambling violated an international trade treaty.

Officials in the twin-island nation, population 82,000, where licensed online gambling companies contribute to a $1 billion annual gross domestic product, have complained they are being stonewalled.

They argue now that an online gambling bill being formed by Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., adds insult to injury. While legalizing Internet poker, it would draw a tight ring to exclude offshore companies by requiring U.S. operators to be physically based and licensed in the United States.

"There's no way the Antiguans would be able to get a license under this bill," Mark Mendel, an attorney representing Antigua, told The Hill newspaper and news site.

Mendel could not be reached Thursday, but told the Capitol Hill publication last week that passage of the Reid-Kyl bill would worsen trade relations between the nations.

The U.S. government has declared it never intended to include Internet gaming among its commitments in the General Agreement for Trade in Services, one of the treaties policed by the World Trade Organization, and has taken steps to withdraw it.

The Reid-Kyl bill would cement the U.S. position in law, according to a draft that has been made public.

The bill declares the World Trade Organization ruling was "erroneous," and that no trading partner should have had any expectation to access U.S. customers for online gambling.

Harold Lovell, the minister of finance and the economy for Antigua and Barbuda, said the bill "is nothing short of legislating historical fiction."

"Given that the U.S. has been immersed in a trade dispute for the last decade with Antigua and Barbuda, the evidence is there for all to see that remote gaming was always at issue," Lovell said in a statement.

The Reid-Kyl bill would give the U.S. trade representative 180 days to resolve the dispute with Antigua or "take all available steps" to complete arbitration.

"We are encouraged to have a time frame adopted by the U.S., which continues to stonewall all efforts by the government of Antigua and Barbuda to resolve this dispute," Lovell said. "However, good faith negotiation requires much more adherence to international law than this legislation is offering."

"It would seem to us that a settlement prior to adoption of legislation, which then incorporated the terms of the settlement, would be the wiser and more appropriate course of action," he said.

Kristen Orthman, a Reid spokeswoman, said the legislation still is being written.

"The bill that has been leaked is just a draft and is a premature version of the online poker legislation. We continue to work with all stakeholders to address concerns," she said.

Antigua has sought up to $3.4 billion in countermeasures, an amount the U.S. government disputed. An arbitrator ruled in 2007 the island nation was entitled to no more than $21 million annually.

W. Baldwin Spencer, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, met in April with Ron Kirk, the U.S. trade representative, in an effort to move the matter forward.

"Antigua and Barbuda's Internet gaming sector has been decimated by the actions of the United States and we believe that we must be fairly compensated for those losses," Spencer said.

For his part, Kirk said "the United States remained committed to working with Antigua and Barbuda in finding a solution to the case."

A U.S. trade representative spokeswoman said last week the U.S. government "is actively engaged at high levels with the government of Antigua to find a way to amicably resolve the trade dispute in a mutually beneficial manner."

- Steve Tetreault

LAS VEGAS NO. 2 IN SUPER PAC CONTRIBUTIONS

Las Vegas is near the top of yet another list - this time money and politics.

The city is No. 2 on a list of top 10 cities for contributions to super PACs, or political action committees, with a total of $48.7 million this election season. That's according to MapLight, a nonpartisan group that tracked data filed with the Federal Election Commission from Jan. 1, 2011, through Oct. 29, 2012.

And most of that money came from Las Vegas Sands Corps. Chairman Sheldon Adelson. Adelson and his wife, Miriam, are super PAC donors, contributing $46.5 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The Las Vegas couple contributed $10 million in October, for example, to the pro-Mitt Romney super PAC Restore Our Future as it launched a $17.7 million ad campaign targeting voters in swing states, including Nevada. The Adelsons had previously given $10 million to the PAC after getting behind Romney after the GOP primaries.

President Barack Obama is edging his GOP challenger in the pre-election polls in Nevada, but Republicans have made the state competitive and are hoping for an upset victory on Election Day on Tuesday.

So which city was No. 1? Washington, D.C., of course, where lots of lobbyists and big money players are located. Washington topped the list with a total $71.6 million in donations during the campaign season.

The other cities on the list in order were: New York City ($40.8 million); Houston ($36.4 million); Dallas ($32 million); Chicago ($16.6 million); Los Angeles ($13.7 million); Jackson Hole, Wyo. ($12.3 million); Detroit ($10.9 million); and San Francisco ($9.2 million).

Lots of outside money is being spent in Nevada, too, and not just in the presidential race.

The U.S. Senate race between Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., and his Democratic challenger, Rep. Shelley Berkley, is among the top five across the country for outside spending, according to yet another list.

The Sunlight Foundation said the Nevada race was No. 4 at $18.5 million spent by PACs and other groups supporting or opposing the candidates in the race, according to a report released Friday. Of that money, $11.7 million came from donors who didn't have to reveal themselves under federal rules.

The other U.S. Senate races that made the top list, in order, included No. 1 Virginia ($29.7 million); Ohio ($24.6 million); Wisconsin ($22.2 million); and Montana ($16.3 million).

- Laura Myers

Contact Review-Journal reporter Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702 387-2919. Follow her on Twitter @lmyerslvrj. Contact Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault at stetreault @stephensmedia.com or 202-783-1760. Follow him on Twitter @STetreaultDC.