Okay, I admit it - Benefield's blog pushed me into doing this.

Here's the deal, folks: I'm usually pretty cynical. And I realize that Washington is going to crush some percentage of Barack Obama's idealism and spirit like a bug. I don't think there's a president yet who hasn't had that done to him.

But his team is asking for our (the nation's) input, and has made it drop-dead easy to sign up for the Citizen's Briefing Book. In short, you create a userid, then you can post comments and vote on issues that matter to you.

There are a couple of "Repeal UIGEA" threads in there, and they're getting heavy traffic with big - overwhelming - votes for repealing it.

So, I just timed myself - it took me seven minutes to go to the website (thanks Raptor!), create a userid, search for "UIGEA" and then vote for the repeal.

Will this do any good? Look, it's a freeroll - it won't do any harm. We know that Obama is a poker player, we know the Treasury is looking for new sources of revenue. And in fact, I suspect that Full Tilt, PokerStars, and all the other major players would be on the first plane back to the U.S. if it became fully legal here.

"You mean - even if they had to be regulated and pay taxes?"

Hell, yes. To have access to the American financial system (i.e. your credit card works as easily at Full Tilt as it does at Amazon.com). To have full unfettered access to the advertising media. To have the protection of the American legal system against fraud. Etc.

No-brainer.

So please - take the seven minutes, sign up for a Citizens Briefing Book account, and go vote to the repeal the UIGEA. If you want to read and post comments about other topics of importance to American citizens, you get extra credit. But be careful - you may find yourself becoming involved in the civic process, caring about issues that matter to you, and even becoming an informed citizen and voter.

Scary stuff, that.

Regards, Lee