Barney Frank is a busy guy, and he looks to get even busier.

As Chairman of the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee, Frank is right in the middle of the financial crisis, so he can be forgiven for the repeated delays in his long-promised bill to overturn the much-hated and useless UIGEA.

But the delay may finally be coming to an and.

Frank was speaking today at the Reuters Global Financial Regulation Summit and when asked about his planned bill he said, "We'll be introducing it next week and I plan to move on it."

Things are about to get interesting.

With the economy in tatters and the financial industry being particularly hard-hit, it would seem to make sense to repeal a law that handcuffs financial institutions with ridiculous and unclear enforcement duties.

Furthermore, overturning this bill would please America's allies, such as the UK, who has been complaining about how the UIGEA is contradictory to WTO regulations.

So, this should be a slam-dunk, right?

Not so fast.

As far as I can tell, Frank's planned legislation sounds like a simple overturning of the UIGEA, and does not include any plans for actual regulation of the online gambling industry.

Without regulation, it will be hard for the American government to generate any revenues from opening up the online gambling market again. That lack of regulation will definitely draw some opposition.

Finally, in the last few weeks, you have been able to feel the Republicans starting to get their confidence back after their election loss, and online gambling could easily turn into an issue that they decide to sink their moral and upright teeth into.

In the aftermath of the collapse of the world economy, the general consensus - rightly or wrongly - seems to be that the blame lies with the rampant greed and lack of regulation on Wall Street. This is the kind of atmosphere that breeds a backlash of puritanism in the masses, and that could play into the hands of the Republicans in a debate like this.

In short, I think the hearings could be long and very loud, with lots of calls for a "return to American values" and a lot of bullshit like that.

Either way, I don't think it will be a slam-dunk.

Let's hope I am wrong.