Barney Frank Visits Tonight Show

Perhaps in an effort to drum up more support and interest in his bill that will legalize online casinos and online poker, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) visited the Tonight Show with Jay Leno Thursday to talk gambling.

The bill, HR 2267, called the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection and Enforcement Act, is currently still working its way through committees before it gets to the house floor. The bill is intended to overturn the statutes of the UIGEA, or the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, which became effective June 1.

Frank told Leno that the government – even in these lean times – is missing the financial boat by making illegal all online gaming and online poker playing. The government and U.S. citizens would benefit greatly from online gaming taxation, Frank said.

Frank said he’s also concerned in general with the government dictating what people can do in the privacy of their own homes.

“We now make it illegal for adults to gamble on the internet,” Frank said. “If you have some guy who wants to play poker on the internet, we say it’s illegal … We could make billions of dollars a year by making it legal and taxing it.”