Frank vows to continue online gambling fight

[The Buzz]

House Financial Services Committee Chair Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has vowed to continue his fight to overturn the UIGEA, despite the recent tie vote on the King Amendment.

"At this point, I'm waiting to see what the Republicans, who voted against this, plan to do after getting the heat for killing it," Frank said to Las Vegas Review writer Tony Batt.

Frank said the surprising turnaround occurred because Internet gambling supporters underestimated pressure coming from "the right wing of the Republican Party."

"There is a great deal of discomfort between those on the business end of the Republican Party and those on the social conservative end of the party about this bill," Frank said. "A lot of Republicans wanted to vote for this, but they were pressured by their leadership to vote against it."

A lobbyist, who requested anonymity, said the committee's ranking Republican, Rep. Spencer Bachus of Alabama, took the vote "extremely personally."

Bachus exerted enormous pressure on other Republicans, including those who already had indicated support for the King amendment, to vote against it, the lobbyist said.

Marisol Garibay, a committee spokeswoman for Bachus, denied he twisted arms to pick up votes.

"Absolutely not. He has never done anything like that," Garibay said.

Nevertheless, Frank remains confident that time is on his side.

"The problem the other side has is that nothing is going to be done on the regulations because it's impossible to get them done," Frank said.

Full story here ... http://www.lvrj.com/business/24623639.html

[The Buzz]

The Boston Globe ran a very interesting story about Frank's crusade to overturn the UIGEA over the weekend ...

http://www.boston.com/news/local/mas...line_gambling/