Is Barney Frank Shooting Himself in the Foot?

What in the world did Congressman Barney Frank do, and why did he do it? Frank’s bill, designed to reform online gambling in the United States, is in danger because he added language to his bill promising a billion-dollar fix for affordable housing.

When the Massachusetts Democrat introduced HB 2046, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act (IGREA) it was aimed at reversing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) that forbid American banks and credit card companies from processing payments to and from online gambling sites, thus making it more difficult to fund online poker cash transfers, and essentially tightened a noose around online poker.

Frank’s IGREA would create a process by which the Government could license, regulate, and tax online gaming while requiring safeguards to prevent underage and compulsive gambling, as well as money laundering.
Frank, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, advocates stopping home foreclosures. The rider he attached to his bill seeks one billion dollars to build affordable housing.

The sense in Congress is that this bill will not pass with the affordable rider attached to it. Even members of Frank’s own party are against it.

Just another day in poker’s continuing soap opera.