If you haven't heard the news yet, Bill Richardson has been appointed as the Commerce Secretary of the United States of America. In case you aren't familiar with the name Bill Richardson, he is the Governor of New Mexico. He has held this position since he was elected in November of 2002. Prior to serving as the Governor of New Mexico, he had served in Congress, worked as an Ambassador to the United Nations for the US and served as the Secretary of Energy.
Since the news broke that Barack Obama was elected as the next President of the United States, it was widely known that Bill Richardson (who was actually a candidate for the 2008 Democratic Presidential Nomination) would become a member of his cabinet. Originally, it was believed that Richardson would serve as Obama's Secretary of State. However, this position is now believed to be Hillary Clinton's new position in the cabinet. Instead of serving as Secretary of State, Richardson will be serving as the Commerce Secretary in President Obama's cabinet.
While not everyone will agree on this subject (but in all honesty, when does everyone ever agree when it comes to politics), Richardson is actually better off serving as the Commerce Secretary than the Secretary of State.
The reason that this appointment of Richardson is so significant is because of the impact he will be able to have on the future of US Gambling. Obviously, because you are reading this post, gambling in the US is a topic that you care about (even if you are not a United States citizen, it's reasonable to believe that any action in regards to gambling taken by the United States could have some kind of impact on gambling in your own country). As the Commerce Secretary, Bill Richardson will be the go-to guy when it comes to dealing with US gambling. One of the specific tasks he will have to focus on is working in conjunction with the Interior and Bureau of Indian Affairs. This is the group that handles tribal gambling in the United States, which is obviously an extremely large industry. Although there is currently a lot of problems and issues between the United States and the tribal gaming industry, most experts agree that Bill Richardson is the man who will be able to work through all of these problems and come to agreeable resolutions.
