Barney Frank, the Democratic Congressman, let the Obama Administration know how he felt regarding Black Friday and the indictment that led to several arrests and the seizure of four well-known and big names in online poker on April 15th, 2011. He told them in so many words that this indictment and the criminal charges against the founders of these online powerhouses were a waste of the governments time and energy. The persons charged in this case are facing huge prison sentences and multi-million dollar fines.
Barney Frank has gone public with his feelings following the recent actions in online poker when Absolute Poker, UB.com, Full Tilt and PokerStars were shut down and taken out of the US market this last Friday. Frank is none too happy about the incident and has been interviewed by quite a few media outlets. Frank recently told Thehill.com that this was an “incredible waste of resources” by the American government and the time and energy spent on taken the poker rooms down could have been spent more wisely.
Barney Frank is a big name in congress and most notably for his own bill to legalize the game of online poker at the highest of levels. This bill and what it stands for, only mocks what the Feds are trying to do, which makes Frank even more passionate about his beliefs. He has stated more than once that the government is not helping the USA players by trying to come down on poker rooms; they are actually pushing players into the hands of an unregulated, unlicensed industry. Frank says the government shout try to find those responsible for the real estate market crash and other financial disasters the USA faces, rather than work so hard to make it a crime to play online poker.
He went on the record with the Hill asking the government to “Go after the people responsible for empty houses, not full houses.” While he is not giving the go ahead for USA players to break the law, but simply asking to place the online poker industry further down on the list of priorities for the federal government. Not all of those in the White House are against legalizing online poker, and Frank also mentioned that there were quite a few Conservative Republicans that are ready to back up his bill to regulate online poker, not only to legalize it for the players, but to license USA poker rooms online, giving the player some recourse during disputes. As it stands now, the player has little to no recourse should an issue arise while they are playing online.
Thanks Barney!!!! You are absolutely right. This is a complete waste of time attacking these solid, profitable, tax paying businesses. It is our right if we want to play online poker. Once again we have Big Brother looking over our Shoulder!!!