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Newlywed Barney Frank stopped by "The Bill Press Show" on Tuesday and discussed marrying his longtime partner, Jim Ready, over the weekend Asked how fellow pols have reacted, the congressman said, “Mostly, the Republicans have ignored it. There have been no negative comments and I think a few years ago, there would have been. The climate is changing and opponents have realized that the country is moving beyond them. A couple of Republicans have privately congratulated me. The Democrats have been enormously enthusiastic and friendly.”

(Reuters) - U.S. Democratic Representative Barney Frank wed his longtime partner, James Ready, on Saturday, becoming the first sitting congressman to enter into a same-sex marriage. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick officiated the ceremony and added some levity by saying Frank, 72, and Ready, 42, had vowed to love each other through Democratic and Republican administrations alike, and even through appearances on Fox News, according to Al Green, a Democratic congressman from Texas. "Barney was beaming," said Green, who attended the ceremony. He added that Frank, a champion of gay rights and the sweeping reform of Wall Street, shed a tear...

It’s not exactly the secret celebrity wedding of the season, but it still might be high-wattage enough -- at least in political circles -- to attract unwanted paparazzi. So a spokesman said Monday that Representative Barney Frank would prefer to keep the timing of his marriage to Jim Ready under wraps. It’s not working too well. Frank himself has leaked enough clues that it is easy to conclude the wedding is this Saturday afternoon, in a private ceremony in Newton. Barney said in a C-SPAN interview in May that he was not inviting President Obama and his wife, Michelle, to...

It was in August of 2010 the House Ethics Committee decided to proceed with charges against California Congresswoman Maxine Waters for contriving to procure “special favors” for the Massachusetts-based, OneUnited Bank. And although “Waters has done her damnedest during [these] three years to exploit as many legal technicalities as possible to try to get the investigation halted…” it now looks as though the jig might finally be up. (1) In 2008, Representative Waters set up a meeting between officials of the Treasury Department and members of a “trade association” of minority owned banks. The meeting, however, consisted almost exclusively of...

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) slammed unions and liberal activists for pushing to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R). "I think the people on the Democratic side made a big mistake and the funding thing was a big deal," Frank told The Hill Wednesday afternoon, alluding to Republicans' big cash advantage in the race. "My side picked a fight they shouldn't have picked. The recall was upsetting to people, the rerun of the election with [Democratic Milwaukee Mayor] Tom Barrett — it's not a fight I would have picked." Walker survived the recall by a comfortable 7-point margin over Barrett on...

THE DEAD BABY MEDIA If the text on that one is too small for you, it's a CNN piece headlined, "Why the Syrian regime is killing babies." There's not much to add to that. The Syrian regime may be killing babies, but CNN killed journalism. With some help from the New York Times, the Washington Post and the BBC. Anyone who has spent time in the Middle East knows quite well that parading around dead bodies is part of the Muslim ceremony of rallying for the next attack. These aren't funerals, these are corpse parades and the corpses are often...

During an interview with CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) discussed everything from the Trayvon Martin shooting, to gay marriage, to his upcoming retirement. And while none of these are surprising for this congressman to talk about, the eye-opening moment occurred when he said (with a straight face) that president Obama has helped “turn around the mess of the economy.” Really? “When you look at the election, you look at the campaign season here,” Malveaux said, “What do you think President Obama has done right, that he’s gotten right? And what do you think he really needs to work...

NEWTON, Mass. (WHDH) -- Democratic Representative Barney Frank raised eyebrows during his commencement speech at UMass Dartmouth when he referenced the Trayvon Martin case. Barney Frank, never at a loss for words, drew gasps from the commencement crowd at UMass Dartmouth where his good friend Hubie Jones was awarded an honorary doctorate -- complete with a degree and hood. "When they give you an honorary doctorate they give you one of these and Hubie, I think you now got a hoodie you can wear and no one will shoot at you," Frank said during his speech. The crowd was stunned...

Barney Frank Makes Awkward Trayvon Martin ‘Hoodie’ Joke During Commmencement Barney Frank, the retiring Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, never known to speak anything but his mind, used his address to graduating seniors at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth Sunday to make a cringe-inducing joke about hoodies. “I do want to acknowledge a man who has played a major role in diminishing inequality in Massachusetts,” said Frank, referring to the activist Hubie Jones. “He’s a great man and I’ve worked with Hubie for many years. You know he got an honorary degree today. You know when you get an honorary...

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was one of several speakers at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth undergraduate commencement that took place this Sunday. Frank was also one of two people that received the Chancellor's Distinguished Service Medal at the event. However, Congressman Frank made a controversial comment about Hubie Jones, a black recipient of an honorary doctorate, that elicited an audible gasp from the audience. In reference to the Trayvon Martin case, Frank said "you now got a hoodie you can wear and no one will shoot at you." After the audience reacted, Frank said, "I think you'll feel, I hope,...

I just finished reading Brian Sullivan’s Reform battles rollback as Romney pledges to repeal Obama's financial regulations regarding the differences between Romney and Obama on the financial services regulations known as Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley. Sullivan’s piece is mostly what you would expect from a mainstream media outlet. It’s a topical check list of “On the one hand Romney wants, on the other hand Obama says…” that is just a series of campaign infomercials disguised as balanced analysis. (Please see my personal plea at the end of this article for USA Cares this Memorial Day- and please... give generously)     And it illustrates what’s really...

While speaking to Harvard Graduates this week Barney Frank took time to hammer a woman who challenged him at a town hall two years ago over his ideology. He then went on to explain that legislation he was promoting would not prevent pastors from speaking their views at the pulpit. "You can still call me a fag," Frank said and cited that at the time he was chair of the Finance Committee so he "wouldn't advise it if you were in the banking industry."

Rep. Barney Frank is poised to become the first member of Congress in history to be in a same-sex marriage soon, and while his party, particularly in his home state of Massachusetts, had much to do with the rights of same-sex couples to marry, the chief executive of the Democrats (and the nation) is not invited. The reason, Rep. Frank told C-SPAN? “It would ruin the party to have the Secret Service.” Rep. Frank had no ill words for the President, but made clear when asked on C-SPAN this weekend that he was not amenable to doing anything that would...

Obama not invited when Rep. Frank marries longtime partnerBy Alicia M. Cohn - 05/18/12 05:04 PM ET Although Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) earlier this month said he is “pleased” with President Obama’s decision to publicly support same-sex marriage, in a new interview the congressman revealed the president will not be on the guest list when Frank marries his longtime partner this summer. “If he and Michelle wanted to come, I would be delighted and honored to have him, but he will bring the Secret Service,” Frank said in an interview that will air Sunday as part of C-SPAN’s “Newsmaker” series....

The American Enterprise Institute’s Peter Wallison on how government, not greed, was the essential ingredient in the 2008 meltdown. In January 2011, a bipartisan, 10-member, government-created body called the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) issued a comprehensive report assigning blame for the 2008 financial meltdown. The main culprits: “widespread failures in financial regulation and supervision,” “dramatic failures of corporate governance and risk management at many systemically important financial institutions,” “a combination of excessive borrowing, risky investments, and lack of transparency,” a government that “was ill prepared for the crisis,” and “a systemic breakdown in accountability and ethics.” The four Republicans...

On this weekend’s broadcast of ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” outgoing Democratic Rep. Barney Frank locked horns with Tennessee Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn, who wanted to focus on economic issues instead of gay marriage. Frank, an openly gay member of Congress, claimed that Blackburn was relying too heavily on talking points. Blackburn objected to Frank’s assertion, but then Frank lashed out at Blackburn and host George Stephanopoulos.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said he advised President Obama against taking up health care reform following a special election in 2010 that changed Democrats' fortunes in the Senate, saying that he should have instead turned his focus to financial reform. Frank referenced former President Bill Clinton and his failed health care plan from the 1990s. “Obama made the same mistake Clinton made,” Frank said in a wide-ranging interview with New York magazine. “When you try to extend health care to people who don’t have it, people who have it and are on the whole satisfied with it get nervous.” The...

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) thought President Obama was making a "mistake" in pressing for healthcare reform in 2010 and urged the White House to back off after Democrats lost their 60-seat majority in the Senate, the congressman tells New York magazine. "I think we paid a terrible price for healthcare," Frank told the magazine in a lengthy interview as he prepares to retire at the end of his 16th term. "I would not have pushed it as hard. As a matter of fact, after [Sen.] Scott Brown [R-Mass.] won [in January 2010], I suggested going back. I would have started...

It's random, I know...but here's what I think one of the families would look like...