No Mention of Online Gambling in State of Union

President Barack Obama talked about a lot of things in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, but hopes of a mention from the online gambling community were quickly dashed.

State of the Union

In his first State of the Union address since being reelected, President Obama called restoring the country's middle-class promise "our generation's task. He told the nation that the basic American principles of work and prosperity are under threat because of partisan politics and a rapidly changing economy.

Although the address focused mainly on domestic issues, with mentions of tax reform, gun control, and other national issues, Obama also spoke about foreign policy - highlighted by the announcement that he will bring 34,000 American troops back home from Afghanistan over the next year.

Where to for gambling?

Although Obama spoke about "defending our freedom" and doing our part to make sure our God-given rights are protected at home, he disappointingly made no mention of the right to Americans to make their own decision on online gambling - a measure many legislators have been pushing for years.

The question that now must be asked is where online gambling sits on the agenda. Will the push for federal regulation succeed during Obama's second term, or will we have to be satisfied with laws being enacted by the states - such as Nevada, California and New Jersey who are pushing ahead with intra-state online gambling anyway.