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Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Peter King, R-N.Y. unveiled legislation Wednesday that would enable Americans to legally gamble online.

If running major financial institutions and the auto industry isn’t enough for the Obama administration, a new House bill would put the Treasury Department in charge of Internet gambling.

Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Peter King, R-N.Y., unveiled legislation Wednesday that would enable Americans to legally gamble online.

"The government should not interfere with people’s liberty unless there is a good reason," Frank said. "This is, I believe, the single biggest example of an intrusion into the principle that people should be free to do things on the Internet. It’s clearly the case that gambling is an activity that can be done offline but not online."

But the legislation grants the Treasury Department far-reaching power over online gambling.

The bill would allow the Treasury secretary to license and revoke licenses of Internet gambling Web sites under the guise of protection Americans’ personal freedoms to gamble and consumer protection concerns.

The bill would also allow the Treasury secretary to "assess" license holders for the costs of background checks and investigations of Web sites applying for the license.

And the bill provides for mechanisms for state and local taxes to be collected and re-distributed.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009…g-legislation/

The tentacles are getting longer and longer. :rolleyes: