Spencer Bachus Ready to Fight Online Gambling Legalization

Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus (R) has worked hard to ensure that online gambling prohibition stays in place.  He knows the tide is turning but Bachus won't go down without a fight.

"I keep saying to everyone involved, if people want to go to a casino, that's one thing, but putting a computer in the bedroom of every teenager has addicted a whole generation," Bachus said in a recent interview with the Birmingham News.

Bachus has spoken on behalf of the Republican party, which made online gambling prohibition a part of its election platform this year.

But the opposition to the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA) continues to grow thanks to those like Democratic Congressman Barney Frank's attempts to have the law reversed.

"This midnight rulemaking will tie the hands of the new administration, (and) burden the financial services industry at a time of economic crisis," Frank warned Congress this summer.

The UIGEA was supposed to prevent banks from processing the financial transactions related to computer betting but instead has served to make the legal landscape for the industry even more murky.

Bachus' side won the initial argument to get the ban enacted into law, but it's been under attack ever since as an overreach.

"The clock is ticking on President Bush's prohibitionist crusade against Internet gaming and that is clearly why these flawed regulations are being forced on the financial services industry at the very last minute," said Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev.

Bachus is gearing up for the next battle when Congress reconvenes in January.

is gearing up for the next battle when Congress reconvenes in January.

"These offshore gambling sites earned hundreds of billions of dollars, and the people that have opposed me on this have hundreds of billions to spend," Bachus said.

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher