Is it time for the US to legalize online gambling?

Reid Cherner and Tom Weir over at USA Today looked into whether or not the US should consider legalizing online gambling. We, of course, thinks it's long overdue.

As they point out: "maybe we can take a tip from England, and the British Open bets that will be placed this week with that nation's legal bookmakers. There, winnings are easily taxed."

And Americans? Well, they rely on offshore websites.

"We gamble billions of dollars in this country, and the Internal Revenue Service doesn't get a dime," Lee Trevino told ESPN.com. "Instead, they spend millions of dollars trying to catch these people."

There is hope. Rep. Jim A. McDermott, D-Wash., introduced legislation to legalize and regulate (and tax) online gambling. He sees as much as $40 billion being generated over the next 10 years.

Says McDermott: "We have gambling on horses. All of a sudden we say you can't gamble online. What's that about? If we can take revenue from horse racing we certainly can take revenue from online."

The online poll conducted by USA Today seems to agree. So far 98% of respondents think legalizing gambling is the only way to go.