John Stossel, the often controversial host of Fox Business News’ “Stossel,” took on the opponents of internet gambling this week both on his show and in his syndicated column, with a little help from Full Tilt Poker pro Andy Bloch.

Already well known for his libertarian leanings, Stossel seems to be of the general opinion that it is not the government’s job to protect Americans from themselves, which given his writing, seems to be his personal take on what the government is currently trying to do in regards to online gambling.  “A free country is supposed to treats adults as though we are self-responsible. Government should let us learn from our mistakes rather than treat us like children.”

Joining Bloch and Stossel, to represent the other side of the argument, was Chad Hills of Focus on the Family and Senator John Kyl (R-Ariz.); the same Senator so openly opposed to internet gambling that he allegedly held up numerous key Treasury appointments- despite the country at the time going through severe economic turmoil- in retribution for that agency just agreeing to a 6 month delay in implementing the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

Throughout the course of the one-hour program, many of the standard arguments for and against internet gambling- that always seem to come up when discussing this topic- did make an appearance including, addiction, security, protecting children, the futility of prohibition, tax benefits, the hypocracy of state run lotteries, and even the morality of gambling as an abstract concept; however despite all the arguments and Stossel’s obviously worthy opponents, it should come as no surprise to fans of this ex-20/20 muckraker, that by the end of the program Stossel's initial opinion appeared almost entirely unchanged.

"Stossel" can be seen on the Fox Buisness channel Thursday’s at 8 p.m. and midnight (EST), and then again on Saturday (7 p.m.) and Sunday (10 p.m).  Check local listings for more information.