Barney Frank Moves to Make Online Gambling Legal

Can Barney Frank Save Online Gambling?

Six months ago the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was signed into law, after being hidden inside a homeland security budget, and effectively outlawed internet gambling in the United States. The London Stock Exchange plunged into a downward spiral, and Americans voiced outrage over having their freedom stripped away. Now House Democrat Barney Frank is attempting to turn back the clock so that online gambling can be regulated, a move that many have wanted for more than a decade.

Two months ago Barney Frank called the act that banned financial transactions for internet gambling the "stupidest ever passed". Newspapers around the world quoted Frank, the Democratic Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, as saying that it is preposterous to outlaw gambling when the country could be earning money from it. Two months later, Frank introduced his own bill that seeks to legalize, license and regulate online gambling.

Officially titled as the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act, Frank's bill attempts to change a law that Frank, and many others, view as being an inappropriate attack on personal liberties. Advocates of Frank's gambling bill point out that forcing online gambling into prohibition only serves to make it a black market activity that has no consumer protections.

Frank's gambling bill, by contrast, has a number of consumer protection aspects built in as safeguards. For example, the bill would grant regulatory powers to the U.S. Treasury Department, who would ensure that the online gambling industry takes steps to identify minors and compulsive gamblers.

Barney Frank's bill will face opposition on both sides of the political isle as it moves forward. Opponents include Frank's Republican counterpart on the House Financial Services Committee, Representative Spencer Bachus of Alabama.