Midnight Rulings Disapproved by Congressman

It seems like everyone is jumping on the bandwagon against the midnight rulings of the Bush administration to implement the last minute regulations related to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. With the United States economy currently in the dumps, one would think that the rushed priorities of the government would lie elsewhere. These stories are finally spilling out of the online casino circles and on to the mainstream media, where they should have been all along, and perhaps will expose the agenda that the Bush administration has for these last minute rules on online casinos and the like.

The latest person to put in their two cents is Congress man Barney Frank, the chairman of the House of Financial Services Committee. The online casino industry has been fighting this much disputed act from day one. As we have previously reported on Casino Scrutiny, if implemented, the new regulations would require US financial institutions to act as enforcers and not allow any transactions that may be an “illegal gambling transaction”. Congressman Frank has made his opinion on this matter pretty clear. He has written an extensive letter to the Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, which basically asked the secretary to postpone any implementing of the UIGEA regulations.

The regulations would not just affect the online casino industry, they would affect much more people than the congress may expect. Luckily for the citizens of the United States, the moves made by Congress and the outgoing administration are just that: the last moves made by the outgoing administration. The congressman’s letter did not directly defend online casinos, but it did frown upon the regulations that they want to implement. The letter is pretty extensive but one of the most powerful things that Congressman Franks wrote was, “I am deeply disappointed to hear that your agency is proceeding with what I consider to be unseemly haste in issuing regulations implementing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. This midnight rulemaking will tie the hands of the new Administration, burden the financial services industry at a time of economic crisis, and contradict the stated intent of the Financial Services Committee.” Franks closed the letter with, “I strongly urge you to delay implementation of these major, and deeply flawed regulations to permit the incoming Administration the ability to review the consequences of such a significant policy decision, rather than unfairly being denied that opportunity.”