Make no mistake about it, the United States Government is a heavy handed, usually misguided institution, run primarily by people who, frankly, shouldn't be in charge of an outhouse.

This interference by the Federal Government, with adult American's right to spend their money as they see fit, was made possible by the then outgoing Senator, Bill Frisp.

He spearheaded the move to prevent American financial institutions from allowing their customers to fund Internet gambling accounts to satisfy the Republican Party's religious base. This was done in an effort to divert attention from the many ongoing scandals within the party.

The United States Government has been sued by several foreign countries for, I guess, a form of restraint of trade, involving its efforts to ban Americans from gambling on foreign websites.

The Federal Government lost to Antigua, again, in the World Court, and has to pay approximately $21 million bucks for each year of the ban. This sounds like a lot of money but apparently it isn't even close to what Antigua claims it lost.

However that's just the tip of the iceberg in what is now being to look like a payoff of sorts to certain European countries that also sued the United States on the same ground.

In this instance though, the U.S. agreed to a settlement, or a payoff perhaps is more a more appropriate definition, because the whole affair goes well beyond a matter of business.

All Americans should be outraged by the action the government took, even those who are opposed to gambling in any form, Internet or land based casino.

Basically the government is spending billions of taxpayer dollars to insure that it can retain control over its citizens and what they do with their own money.

This type of action could have far reaching effects on future "perceived problems" the government wants to control.

The issue is far too complex to cover in this posting so you should read this concise and comprehensive report of the subject of the U.S. ban on Internet gambling.

Congressman Barney Frank, shown above, is leading the fight to defeat this legislation and future acts by the Federal Government to meddle in the affairs of private citizens and use taxpayer money to benefit some favored gambling operators while harming others.

Check out this story about Frank's efforts to stop the abuses and return legalized online gambling to Americans.

Image Source:www.house.gov