Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Barney Frank to Unveil Online Gambling Bill


There's a LOT of money and tax to be made off Internet Gambling and in light of all the recent bailouts and spending, a giant influx of capital to the federal government would be enticing.   But what could bring in a lot of money quickly?  Barney Frank thinks it's Online Gaming.  He's preparing to fight the fight.  He might not win but I wouldn't bet that he'lll walk out a loser, as I imagine the online gaming lobbyists are pretty good tippers. 

Here's an article from Reuters talking Frank. 


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Barney Frank will unveil legislation on Wednesday (today's the day) to roll back a U.S. ban on online gambling, he said in a statement on Tuesday.  The new bill would exempt operators that are licensed and regulated from the ban enacted in 2006, Frank said.

The Massachusetts Democrat said his legislation "will enable Americans to bet online and put an end to an inappropriate interference with their personal freedom." (Frank being Frank: You mean if I go to the ATM and withdraw $200, not even the Freedom of Information Act can tell people whether I bought potato chips or poker chips?  Cool!)

The Frank bill is likely to be opposed by anti-gambling Republicans. The ban was imposed during the Bush administration and has damaged U.S.-European Union trade ties. European online gambling firms lost billions of euros in value after Congress made it illegal for banks and credit card companies to make payments to online gambling sites.

Republicans controlled the White House and Congress when the law was approved. Now, Democrats are in control in both branches of the government, but it is unclear how the Obama administration will handle the issue. Companies involved in the issue include PartyGaming Plc and 888.com.

(Reporting by Kevin Drawbaugh; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)



Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Disqus for ePayment News