What I'm asking everyone who reads this post to do will take less than two minutes of not particularly strenuous effort.
Steve has been kind and patient enough to have me on his show to discuss this very subject, most recently during his final broadcast from the Spa. Steve's also graciously agreed to be a member of the Players' Panel which will try to make certain that the proposed withholding legislation, which would eliminate one of the fundamentally unfair tax burdens placed on horseplayers, namely the requirement that unlike other gamblers, horseplayers have 25% in federal taxes withheld on tickets of $5k or more on bets with odds of 300-1 or more, becomes law. If there's any reason a horseplayer want to keep the current system in place, I've yet to hear it.
That's why I was shocked yesterday to see the total number of horseplayers who have contacted their Representative to support this legislation. The only possible explanations I can think of for why the number isn't much higher are two:
(1) Players are under the false impression that only members of the Horseplayers' Coalition are being asked to and can participate. Nothing could be further from the truth. As much as the Coalition would love to have you join, everyone can and should follow the steps outlined below to contact his or her Representative.
(2) Players are not clear on exactly what they need to do, and as a result don't realize how little time and effort is involved. An email has already been written and all you need to do is click on the following link from the NTRA site:
http://www.capwiz.com/ntra/issues/al...ertid=11739961
All you need to do once you're there is type in your name, address, and zip, and click "send." Capwiz does the rest.
If you have a problem with the link, or prefer to do it this way, all you need to do is go to the NTRA homepage, where, on the right hand side, you’ll see two links, one to “Withholding Bill” and another one to “Horseplayers’ Coalition.” If you click on the “Withholding Bill” link, you’ll go directly to the spot where you enter your name and address to send the email to your Representative. Alternatively, if you click on the "Horseplayers’ Coalition" link, you’ll see three additional links---(1)“Contact Your Congressman” (2) “Help Support Withholding Legislation” and (3) “Alert Help Support Withholding Legislation”. If you click on any one of those three, you’ll also end up where you need to be to send the email to your Representative
The introduction of this important legislation is only the first step in a long process, and its chances of actually becoming law depend in large part on whether and to what extent those who are in favor of passage make their support known. For literally decades I've been hearing horseplayers complain that they don't have a seat at the table where the decisions that impact them directly are made. On this issue at least, each of you is being offered a seat, and I can only hope everyone understands that for this and future issues, it's important that as many players as possible take advantage of the opportunity to let their voice be heard.
09-27-2008, 01:48 PM
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