We know that there will be a red wave of sorts coming in the election on Tuesday. Free speech once again is being threatened by the Biden Administration. This move by the current administration was to shut down the betting web site that allows individuals to place monetary bets on elections. The web site is Predictit.org. This betting web site has predicted a significant win for the Republicans this year. Fortunately, this does not take effect until after the midterm elections, but it is just in time to remove one source of election information for the 2024 Presidential election.
It was reported by Predictit.org on August 4, 2022, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) revoked the right to offer “betters” the opportunity to predict the election outcomes. While there is a very minor chance that this would affect the election outcomes, it has some significant implications for all of us.
The first thing that we should recognize is that when people want to bet on something, they will bet. The bet might now be between individuals, but it will be there, and it will be unregulated. Another option is that bookies and others will step into the void and offer unregulated betting as they have always done.
More disturbing is the implications for free speech and free enterprise. It seems unlikely that these “futures contracts” on the election could or would have any influence on voters. The CFTC is eliminating this betting site, because customers will be spending real money betting on an election.
The Predictit.org Web Site has predicted a Red Wave in the current election:
Even stranger is who runs the web site. “Predictit.org is an experimental project operated for academic purposes under permission from the CFTC.” The ORG on the end of the web site address is a telltale indicator. The web site is run by the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, a not-for-profit university. In other words, it is a betting site run by an organization with no stake in the outcome. What they are measuring is when people “put their money where their mouth is” this is what they do.
Predictit.org predicts elections as well as other political issues affecting our nation as well.
Until recent years the Unites States has never weaponized the power of the government against individual citizens. We are on a bad path with the raid on President Trump’s home, control of social media, and obvious overreaching by the FBI. Shutting down Predictit.org is one uncomfortable step down the path to regulation of free speech.
It is time for more balance in our system, and a red wave is coming. The question as always is “When the opposing party is given a mandate to govern, can they?”
“Americans always do the right thing, but not until they have exhausted every possible alternative.” – Winston Churchill
Images courtesy of Predictit.org 11/4/2022 at approximately 8:00 a. m. EST.
