Susan Schmidt; James V. Grimaldi (October 16 2005). "How a Lobbyist Stacked the Deck—Abramoff Used DeLay Aide, Attacks On Allies to Defeat Anti-Gambling Bill". Washington Post. p. A01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/15/AR2005101501539_3.html. 

Although this Washington Post article was written in 2005, the subject of the story centers on the 1999 Internet Gambling Prohibition Act (IGPA) that never came to be. IGPA was bill that cleared the Senate and "appeared on its way to passage by an overwhelming margin in the House of Representatives." Although a strong lobbying effort from the moral right and anti-gambling groups such as the Christian conservatives thought they had sealed the passage of this bill, political payoffs behind the scene derailed the process.

Even though the National Gambling Impact Study Commission’s Final Report gave fresh life to an anti-gambling bill, powerful lobbying efforts orchestrated by Jack Abramoff eventually scuttled the passage. These efforts employed a “win-at-any-cost strategy that went so far as to launch direct-mail attacks on vulnerable House conservatives” and included at one point, “circulat[ing] a forged letter of support from Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.” After the $2 million pro-gambling campaign defeated the bill, several charities tied to Abramoff and his accomplices helped launder the money.

This story serves as an example of how powerful lobbyists and corruption is capable of manipulating Capitol Hill and eventually national law. Although for the average gambler, they were never the wiser. Conservatives swore that they would one day resurrect the bill and that day eventually came also surrounded in controversy. [See UIGEA 2006]