Bush Pushes Through Law

November 25, 2008

Against the protests of banks and pro online gambling groups, the Bush Administration pushed through a new set of rules enforcing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. With Bush and many other Republicans about to leave office it is no wonder they would try to make things harder for the incoming administration, but it is disappointing all the more because they are messing with our financial institutions as well.

The new bill prohibits payments made through credits cards, electronic funds transfers and checks related to online gambling. The banks have asked Bush not to push through the bill as they say that it is only going to make things harder for them and in this economy they have enough on their plates. However, Bush chose to ignore them and passed the online gambling bill anyway. It will go into law in December 2009.

The banks and financial institutions said that the online gambling regulations that they were passing would be too difficult to enforce, and therefore asked them not to make them comply with the law. Rep. Barney Frank said that once Obama is in office he would seek to overturn the online gambling law, a move that he knows will get the support of many in the financial services industry. Even those that are for the passing of the UIGEA say that this latest law is too hard to interpret and enforce.

One of the biggest issues now, and has been, is the fact that �unlawful internet gambling� has never been fully defined. It varies state by state, and even the government doesn�t have a hold on what it is. Some sports betting are allowed, some horse racing is allowed, etc., but online gambling is not.




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