The global economic downturn has focused the minds of many in politics on the potential taxation revenue stream that could be generated from  a repealing of the current online gambling ban and the introduction of a tightly controlled regulatory environment in its place.

This has meant growing support for Barney Frank’s bill that would usher in a new era along these lines. John Larson of Connecticut and Peter Welch of Vermont are the latest public representatives to lend their support to the bill.

This follows a trend we have been seeing recently of growing support of Mr. Frank’s bill. It would now appear that rather than damaging the chances of an imminent repeal, the global economic downturn has actually brought the whole issue way up the agenda as taxation revenues have fallen off a cliff and the powers that be scramble for ways to try to rectify the situation.