U.S decides to postpone Bank rules for blocking intenet gambling sites

On December 1 of this year the U.S. a law was to go into effect that prohibited credit card companies and banks from funding any Internet gambling sites. Net effect being that if you as a consumer tried to fund a gambling account by credit card the transaction would be blocked by Master Card, American Express, Visa or any other card. The credit card companties and banks spent a lot of money making changes to their software to reflect the new law. On the 30th of November the implementation of the new law was put on hold for 6 months so that congressman Barney Frank has a chance to try to get congress to pass a law allowing internet gambling. I called a few credit card comapanies and they are now scrambling to elimiate the change they made blocking the gambling sites. They are frankly pissed off about this back and forth waffling by the goverment yet they don't want to lose the consumer revenue by leaving the blocks in place.

I am a conservative independent and am not usually a fan of Frank and his other liberal democrat cohorts. I try to judge each piece of legislation regardless of party on its own merritts. In this case I agree with at least one of the end results of where Frank is headed.

The entire goverment vs. gambling issue is frought with inconsistencies:

When the Mob ran the numbers games their members were put in jail if caught. Now the goverment runs their owne numbers game "the lotteries" but that's OK because it produces revenue for the goverment. Seems the morality issue goes down the tubes if good old gov can make some incremental tax money lol. Oh and of course they have expanded this to off track betting so they can filche even more money from the populace.

Frank's pro internet gambling support has nothing to do with anything except producing more tax revenue but a biproduct happens to be the restoration of some basic freedom for Americans to do what they want to do regarding gambling. I don't applaud his reasons for supporting the legalization but do support one of the results.
zippedup

Quote: zippedup

... The entire goverment vs. gambling issue is frought with inconsistencies:

When the Mob ran the numbers games their members were put in jail if caught. Now the goverment runs their owne numbers game "the lotteries" but that's OK because it produces revenue for the goverment. Seems the morality issue goes down the tubes if good old gov can make some incremental tax money lol. Oh and of course they have expanded this to off track betting so they can filche even more money from the populace....

I wish I had a copy of Walter Winchell doing the intro to a TV episode of "The Untouchables" that was about cracking down on the illegal Daily Number. Whew boy, they let us know how immoral it all was! I agree, now that the various states all do it the "immorality" seems to have vanished.

Totally unregulated gambling, any old bar being a casino, has a bad history too, I guess. I am about to read a book on early Virginia, I Am Murdered: George Wythe, Thomas Jefferson, and the Killing That Shocked a New Nation by Bruce Chadwick, that goes into it.

So I'm not totally sure how I feel about Internet Gambling. But I can say I don't like laying it on the credit card companies like this.

I of course totally support Barney Frank's efforts. It makes you wonder -- if you support personal freedom and individual responsibility, which party should you be supporting?

Quote: Wizard

I of course totally support Barney Frank's efforts. It makes you wonder -- if you support personal freedom and individual responsibility, which party should you be supporting?

None. All you can do is pick the lesser evil.

I am totally with ya on the lesser of two evils. I do not believe in redistribution of income and therefore normally find myself at odds with the tax and spend democrats. But there are times when they do come up with something worthwhile in which case I will go along.

The election process in this country is a joke! The constitution never had in mind a process run by professional politicians. The thought was that indviduals would serve for a time then return to their real careers. The lobbyists run the country now because the politicians can't win without the bucks they provide. One hand washes the other and we the people get left out of the process. What screwed up system!
zippedup

Quote: zippedup

...I am a conservative independent and am not usually a fan of Frank and his other liberal democrat cohorts. I try to judge each piece of legislation regardless of party...In this case I agree with at least one of the end results of where Frank is headed...

Well, I won't say which, but I'd be shaved head to toe, a** painted red and have my picture on the cover of The New American wearing nothing but a Betty Boop mask while being gang-raped by the entire occupancy of the Monkey House at the Bronx Zoo with fireworks exploding over head in the background on the 4th of July before I'd vote for anyone running for anything so much as dogcatcher in that "other" party! And when they're done with me I'd throw 'em Jim Leach (Iowa Republican Author of HR 4411) and that so-n-so rep in my district who voted on that 11th hour anti-gambling legislature, buried in a shipping container inspection security bill. What a b***h move that was!

Hope B.F. can do something.