Legalizing Online Gambling

 I would like to take this opportunity to commend Barney Frank, the United States House Representative for Massachusetts. Frank has been proactive in the fight to legalize online gambling. With the economy the way it is, legalizing online gambling is essential. According to "The Safe And Secure Internet Gambling Initiative" this would create 32,000 jobs, and about $57 billion in tax revenue over the next five years. With unemployment nearing ten percent, and pragmatic and local governments scrambling to close budget gaps, we, as a nation, have no other choice but to legalize internet gambling. It deeply saddens me to see this once proud and powerful country of ours in the shape that it's currently in. Despite what President Obama says, the economy is a mess and more jobs are being loss then those gained.

Many people are going to be opposed to this, citing safety and fraud issues, however there are safeguards being discussed that will minimize this. Among those are protecting children with the use of safety controls like personal information verification derived from one's credit history. This will ensure that no one under the age of eighteen will partake in any form of gambling. There are also compulsive gambling safeguards, like tracking unusual activity, and toll free numbers to call to get help with problem gambling. Secure financial transactions is also a key issue. Payments to an Internet gambling operator could be held in escrow, giving consumers an opportunity to contest unauthorized transactions. Hopefully President Obama will do the right thing and get this initiative moving so we can return to being the world's superpower.