Trading firm proposes more election gambling

Because there are some things you can't wager on even in Las Vegas,  a Chicago trading exchange is seeking government permission to sell options on the 2012 presidential race as well as elections for Congress.

The University of Iowa already runs a market for elections, but betting is capped at $500.  The operation being proposed by the North American Derivatives Exchange  (Nadex) would remove the maximum, require a $100 minimum bet and would be subject to federal regulation.

An electronic exchange based in Dublin, Ireland, also offers an outlet for people who want to put their money behind their political acumen.

At Intrade, bettors also can wager whether the United States or Israel will bomb Iran and whether the Dow Jones Industrial Average will be at 12,000 at the end of the year, among other propositions.

CNN reports the five-member Commodity Futures Trading Commission is reviewing the Nadex proposal, and faces a Jan. 4 deadline to take action of some kind, even if it is to request more time to study it.

At least one commissioner,  Bart Chilton, has come out against a futures market on politics.

"I'm not sure that we want to throw our political process into the trading pits, where just a few well-heeled speculators could theoretically wager on the outcome of an election," Chilton told CNN.

"Even in Vegas they don't allow gambling on elections, and they know something about election gambling," he said.

Following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001,  the Defense Department looked into setting up a "futures market" to help predict upheaval in the Middle East.  The idea was abandoned after key senators blasted it as "gambling on terrorism."