Frank Defends His Bill In Nevada 

Barney Frank has literally taken the battle to the enemy. He has spoken in defense of his bill in Nevada, the home state of his principal opponent, Spencer Bachus. This was done in an interview given to Nevada Public Radio. 

The key issue in that interview was Frank’s response to the argument that online gambling induces and enables minors to wager. Frank pointed out that gambling is not the only product offered on the Internet that is not suitable for minors. He cited examples of age restrictions for cigarettes, alcohol and certain sexual material. He said that technology exists for preventing minors from accessing sites not suitable for them. He caustically added that the anti-gambling faction is pretending that this technology does not exist because it suits them to do so.  

Frank did not deny that addiction to gambling exists. He pointed out that minors in America are addicted to video games. But he sees no move to ban video games. Therefore while it is essential to prevent addiction and in the worst case treat addiction, banning online gambling is not the answer. 

Frank also dwelt on his favorite topic, which is the issue of personal freedom. He said that Internet gambling is a personal choice and the bottom line is that “government ought to mind its own business.” 

Meanwhile the online poll conducted by U.S. News & World Report is a week old. Initially the percentage of those favoring the legalization of online gambling was as high as 98%. It has now settled to around 90%, which is still a very high vote in favor of legalization of online gambling.