Marijuana, Online Gambling Good: Personal Financial Management Bad

If Congressman Barney Frank had his way, online gambling and marijuana would be legalized.  However, he would not allow personal freedoms when it comes to one's own financial decisions.

"I would let people gamble on the Internet," Frank said. "I would let adults smoke marijuana; I would let adults do a lot of things, if they choose."

He added: "But allowing them total freedom to take on economic obligations that spill over into the broader society? The individual is not the only one impacted here, when bad decisions get made in the economic sphere, it causes problems."

CNSNews.com asked Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, to respond to criticism from his Republican counterpart on the committee, Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), during a hearing Thursday on the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2009.

Bachus has questioned the perceived heavy handed government oversight.

"If you can't afford it, don't buy it," Bachus had said Thursday during a committee hearing on the bill, referring to people who bought adjustable-rate (ARMs) and other expensive mortgages. "You're substituting the government's decision for the individual's decision in whether they can afford it."

CNSNews.com asked Frank if Bachus was right--whether Frank's proposal might undercut personal responsibility and the freedom of individuals to make decisions.

"We're not just talking individual responsibility," Rep. Frank answered. "We have a world-wide economic crisis now, because of this. If it were purely individual responsibility, OK, that's why I disagree with the ranking member."

Bachus recently proclaimed during a breakfast meeting in his home state of Alabama that there were Socialists in the House.  The implication seemed to suggest Barney Frank was one of them, though Bachus did not mention anyone by name.

Bachus is a staunch opponent of online gambling legalization.

Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher