Monday, April 23, 2007

Rep. Barney Frank, Our Great Hope

From The Agitator:

It if it passes, it would be a small victory, but a notable one. When was the last time Congress gave a little freedom back?

“I think a lot of members of Congress voted for that (ban) without having given it a lot of attention,” Frank said Wednesday. “And I think that there is growing opposition to it,” he said. “I think that this may be a case where, after the fact of having voted for it, people don't like it and they reconsider.”

Frank, the new chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said he plans to introduce a bill “probably next week, maybe the week after” against the Internet gambling ban.

To be effective, the bill would probably not only need to repeal the UIGA, but also be explicit about what it's allowing. It would need to make clear, for example, that Internet gambling does not fall under the auspices of the old 1961 Federal Wire Act. Ready for the punch line?

“In a number of areas, I am a libertarian,” Frank said. “I think that John Stuart Mill's ‘On Liberty' is a great statement, and I was just rereading it.

“I believe that people should be allowed to read and gamble and ride motorcycles and do a lot of things that other people might not want to let them do."

3 comments:

Wolverine Fan said...

Rep Frank is a big hope for us but it will still be 2 years before anything is finalized. IMHO.

Will we be allowe to play any online site or just US Sanctioned Online sites?

Unknown said...

Its not PLAYING on the sites that's the issue, the issue is the ability to transfer money to/from the sites.

DuggleBogey said...

I think he's talking about sites like Party Poker and others who stopped allowing US players.

If Frank's law is passed, I imagine they would all welcome US customers back immediately.

How that law would make it past the Oval Office is the part I have a hard time imagining.