Fellow U.S. citizens, prepare to see $100 BILLION of your tax dollars go to the WTO. As noted in a previous post, the U.S. government has been ignoring the WTO’s ruling on U.S. laws banning it’s citizens from doing business with offshore gaming companies. Based on this defiance, 151 WTO member countries will be voting on an appropriate penalty and seeking compensation for damages done. Don’t expect our friends in the EU or India to come to our defense either:

The European Union, along with India and five other countries, has filed notice that it intends to seek compensation.

“The US decision is a major threat to a rules-based international trading system,” said Nao Matsukata, former director of policy planning for the Office of the US Trade Representative.

“If more countries follow the US lead and do the same thing, the entire WTO system could implode and that would be extremely dangerous for US economic interests and for free trade generally.

I can’t say I disagree with the countries seeking compensation from the U.S. I blame the Bush administration and Congress for failing to act to prevent this situation. I really hope that if you enjoy sports betting and you plan on voting in the next presidential election that you vote for the only candidate that will work to grant you that liberty – the maverick Congressman from Texas Dr. Ron Paul.