Free Republic

No one will really understand politics until they understand that politicians are not trying to solve our problems. They are trying to solve their own problems — of which getting elected and re-elected are No. 1 and No. 2. Whatever is No. 3 is far behind. Many of the things the government does that may seem stupid are not stupid at all, from the standpoint of the elected officials or bureaucrats who do these things. The current economic downturn that has cost millions of people their jobs began with successive administrations of both parties pushing banks and other lenders to...

Representative Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has gotten the Consumer Financial Protection Act through his House Financial Services Committee. This bill will create a new federal agency to oversee consumer credit. “Too many people are frivolously abusing credit,” Frank alleged. “They’re buying things they don’t need with money they don’t have. This is a recipe for bankruptcy. We have to stop it.” Under the legislation, a Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) would review all current credit cards, as well as applications for new cards, to determine whether the cards are, or would be, used appropriately. Cards intended for uses that don’t meet...

...So why the run on the CoinStar machines? Answer: Those piggy banks (or coffee cans or cookie tins or whatever) are no longer just fun little ways of saving back a few bucks. They’re grocery money, or school supplies, or maybe the electric bill. People are being weighed down with bills they can’t pay and the load is getting heavier. I took my big $22.68 and bought food. It was either that or draw money against my next paycheck. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out this is a bad sign. People are running out of money. And...

Barney Frank sure knows how to pick 'em! His boyfriends have been busted running brothels out of his apartment and growing dope. Luckily, Barney has a NEW boyfriend that he guarantees will not be a source of embarrasment! NOTE: The author of this comic requests that you visit his web site and please refrain from copying the cartoon within this thread. Thank you very much!

The Conscience of Kansas radio program with host Paul A. Ibbetson invites you all to place an order through the Obama Burger Drive-Thru. Enjoy!

With friends like this. Barney, Barney, Barney …. too much. Barney’s buddy is busted for dope smoking (plus), and Barney … well … he was there … just helping a grieving friend of course. But he wasn’t smoking, nope, nosireeeeeeeeeee. Big hat tip to Hot Air “picks.” FOX25 has learned that Congressman Barney Frank was present during a marijuana arrest at James Ready’s home in Ogunquit, Maine. Ready is well-known for his relationship with Congressman Frank.

Financial 'Reform': Sen. Chris Dodd's proposed overhaul would replace the Federal Reserve with a "super regulator" to oversee the banking and financial industries. Will it work? Consider the source. Along with fellow Democrat Barney Frank, now chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Dodd, who heads the Senate Banking Committee, has done as much to damage this nation's financial system as anyone — and that includes all the CEOs and subprime scoundrels as well as former Fed chief Alan Greenspan, whom many blame for lax oversight and too-loose credit in the run-up to the meltdown. What did Dodd do? In...

Democratic leaders plan to repeal the military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in next year’s defense authorization bill. Both the White House and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) back the strategy of using the defense bill to change policy on gays in the military, an aide to Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) told The Hill on Wednesday. Frank, the openly gay chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, is a close ally of Pelosi. The defense bill has long been seen as a possible vehicle for changing the policy. “One legislative way or another, this policy, which is unfair to patriotic Americans...

NYT's Edmund Andrews has a curious piece out on Ben Bernanke and the Fed, which, I'm guessing was mostly supplied by Barney Frank. Since, Frank comes off as the hero in the piece. (Well, hero in the sense of power manipulator)Andrews writes: ...when [Bernanke] sat down shortly after 8 a.m. on Oct. 1 at the Rayburn House Office Building for coffee and muffins with Representative Barney Frank, the rumpled and wisecracking chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, he took in some blunt advice. Voters had become suspicious and unnerved by the Fed because of its trillion-dollar efforts to bail...

A Boston TV station discovered that Barney Frank was present in 2007 when police raided his boyfriend's home in Maine and confiscated marijuana, bongs and marijuana plants. Somehow this didn't come out until now. In the TV interview below, Frank professes ignorance of the contents of his boyfriend's house--he was on the porch when the police arrived!--and says he wouldn't recognize a marijuana plant if he saw one. It's a wonderful image, really: the boyfriend has these weird, spiky house plants scattered around the premises and Barney thinks they're ferns or something. And he didn't recognize the bags of marijuana,...

Democratic Rep. Barney Frank took a dig Friday at the Republican lawmaker who organized a protest by conservatives against health care legislation. Frank, a Massachusetts liberal, told an audience: "Some of the people (at the rally) that wanted to engage me in conversation appeared to have been the losers in the 'Are you smarter than Michele Bachmann contest?"' Rep. Bachmann, R-Minn., had organized Thursday's rally attended by thousands of conservatives critical of the Democrats' health care plan. Frank, who recently compared arguing with an angry voter to conversing with a dining room table, said this week's protest was like being...

WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Barney Frank took a dig Friday at the Republican lawmaker who organized a protest by conservatives against health care legislation. Frank, a Massachusetts liberal, told an audience: "Some of the people (at the rally) that wanted to engage me in conversation appeared to have been the losers in the 'Are you smarter than Michele Bachmann contest?'."

) today reported its third-quarter 2009 results and filed its quarterly report on Form 10-Q with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing provides consolidated financial statements for the third quarter of 2009. The following documents are now available on Fannie Mae’s Web site: News Release reporting third-quarter 2009 financial results Fannie Mae’s quarterly report on Form 10-Q Third-Quarter 2009 Credit Supplement Fannie Mae exists to expand affordable housing and bring global capital to local communities in order to serve the U.S. housing market. Fannie Mae has a federal charter and operates in America’s secondary mortgage market to enhance the...

Barney proves he has no clue how far gone he is. Here's the bill: For the whole series of Zero dollar bills, go here: " Flickr Archive of Zero Bills"

Recently at a town hall meeting, Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass) was in rare form. He normally is snide and arrogant, but that day he was downright abusive. He will no doubt say he was being reactionary, cashing in on the convenient excuse that apparently every town hall grouping is full of nothing but angry mobs carrying torches and pitchforks. He asked someone what planet they were from when they asked him questions about the health care bill. He was not only condescending, he was utterly full of contempt for the audience. I saw the video clips, and I think he...

I am afraid to report that when I compared Thomas Frank's book, which I believe was a cheap hatchet job on the majority of the people of Kansas, and the 2009 Cohen/Winston documentary of the same name, I found that the apple does not fall very far from the tree. A few fundamental themes ran through the film. The first theme is that when Christians and their values are mixed with politics it is the recipe for political doom. The liberal crowd on viewing night seemed quite joyful as the pro-lifer, Phill Kline, is defeated by Paul Morrison for Kansas...

John Mckinnon at the WSJ reports: Home-Buyer Credit Is Focus of Inquiry The Internal Revenue Service is examining more than 100,000 suspicious claims for the first-time home-buyer tax break ... The tax credit is completely refundable, even if the homebuyer has no tax liability - and this makes it a target for fraud. From the IRS: "[The tax credit is] fully refundable, meaning the credit will be paid out to eligible taxpayers, even if they owe no tax or the credit is more than the tax owed." Also, the credit is separate from the closing, and the WSJ article suggests...

<p>The measure, approved by voice vote, would allow federal regulators to exempt national banks from state laws if those laws would "significantly interfere" with the bank's ability to do business. Otherwise, banks would be forced to comply with a myriad of state laws that are often tougher than federal laws, under the House plan.</p>

Frank wants to use bailout money to stop foreclosuresBY JIM HAND SUN CHRONICLE STAFF Wednesday, October 14, 2009 2:09 AM EDT U.S. Rep. Barney Frank will push to redirect some repaid bank bailout money toward unemployed workers in danger of losing their homes. Frank, D-Newton, is sponsoring legislation that would make low-interest loans available to the unemployed so they can make their mortgage payments and prevent foreclosure. His bill envisions using $2 billion that bank have repaid the government from bailouts they received under the Troubled Assets Relief Program. Frank said the federal help would not go to people who...

Veterans In Politics Talk Show Introduces Joe Heck and Frank Ricotta LIVE on www.AllTalkRadio.net Our Listeners for the month of September are 113,910 thousand: Thank You: October 24: Joe Heck, Doctor, Colonel in the US Army Reserve, former Nevada State Senator, and Republican Candidate for US Congress Representing Nevada District 3:: Frank Ricotta Clark County Republican Party Coalition Director: "Veterans In Politics" is a weekly radio show produced by the Veterans In Politics International and hosted by Steve Sanson and co-hosted by Jim Jonas on www.alltalkradio.net. The "Veterans In Politics" show is live every Saturday 2:05 PM Pacific Time you...

Almost two-thirds of all bad mortgages in our financial system were bought by government agencies or required by government regulations. Recent reports that the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will suffer default rates of more than 20% on the 2007 and 2008 loans it guaranteed has raised questions once again about the government's role in the financial crisis and its efforts to achieve social purposes by distorting the financial system. The FHA's function is to guarantee mortgages of low-income borrowers (the mortgages are then sold through securitizations by Ginnie Mae) and thus to take reasonable credit risks in the interests of...

Veterans In Politics Talk Show Introduces Dr. Robin Titus and Frank Petyak LIVE on www.AllTalkRadio.net Our Listeners for the month of September are 113,910 thousand: Thank You: October 17: Robin L. Titus MD, Republican candidate for US Senator representing Nevada: Frank M. Petyak Republican candidate for Nevada Congressional District 3: "Veterans In Politics" is a weekly radio show produced by the Veterans In Politics International and hosted by Steve Sanson and co-hosted by Ronda Baldwin Kennedy on www.alltalkradio.net. The "Veterans In Politics" show is live every Saturday 2:05 PM Pacific Time you can call in and speak to the guest...

Home rescue plan delaying, not solving crisisTue Oct 13, 2009 12:23pm EDT By Nick Carey and Al Yoon ALBANY, Ohio/WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (Reuters) - Within weeks of taking office, U.S. President Barack Obama rode to the rescue of homeowners resigned to financial ruin. Obama, grappling with the worst U.S. housing crisis since the Great Depression, pledged to help as many as 9 million families keep their homes by reworking their mortgages. Eight months later, the plan is plagued by delays, red tape and, some critics say, a reluctance by banks to do their part. Just 17 percent of eligible...

A little auxillary humor ...

It's silent, in black and white, and only 20 seconds long, but the only known film footage of Anne Frank has already had an international impact since hitting the Internet Wednesday. Shot on July 22 1941 – almost exactly a year before the Frank family went into hiding – the film captures the wedding day of the girl who "lived on the second floor at Merwedeplein 39.

During the testimony by Tom Woods on Friday, in favor of H.R. 1207, Congressman Barney Frank stepped up to the plate with some hostile questioning. I'll let Woods give the play by play: In my opening remarks I added to my written statement, which I wasn’t strictly reading, a phrase for which Barney Frank (D-MA) would take me to task. In my written statement, I noted that the Fed is indeed independent in the sense that it can make trillions of dollars available to unknown friends on unknown terms. I then wrote that I couldn’t imagine any self-respecting American hesitating...

The meeting with Bank of America executives came less than a year after American taxpayers rescued the institution with a $45 billion emergency bailout. The subject was derivatives, the complex securities that helped trigger Wall Street’s crisis and drag the country to the edge of an economic abyss. The guest of honor: Barney Frank. The bankers wanted to be sure that Representative Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, would not attempt to clamp down excessively on derivatives trading. Frank said he left the session pledging to keep in mind their “legitimate’’ concerns. “It was not lobbying politically,’’...

Ah, Kansas, the home of hard working, god-fearing, regular average Americans. You would never know that if you read Thomas Frank's bestselling book "What's the Matter With Kansas?" Frank paints the picture of the plains state as a land of conservative morons who self abuse themselves by following evil Republicans, who use trickery to create a backlash effect to past liberal doctrines. As a Kansan who read Frank's book cover to cover, and had been besmirched by the demeaning description of Kansas conservatives therein, my preliminary critique of his book was that it was of the same quality as what...

That appears to be an idea that Congressman Barney Frank might be in favor of. An Obama administration proposal to create a government watchdog for financial consumers inched forward in Congress Wednesday, with House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank calling for "death panels" to close down troubled financial firms. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, at a hearing chaired by Frank, urged lawmakers to approve the proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Two top House Democrats requested Tuesday that the Congressional Research Service conduct an analysis into whether recent legislation to strip federal funds from community-organizing group Acorn is unconstitutional. House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., ...

Two powerful Democratic committee chairmen on Tuesday came to the defense of the embattled community group ACORN, sending a clear signal that not all Democrats are content to let Republicans destroy the organization. House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) and House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) have formally requested the Congressional Research Service provide a “clear and objective analysis” of the “charges and countercharges” that have recently been levied against the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. The House and Senate last week overwhelmingly voted to strip federal funding from ACORN. The group has been the subject of...

U.S. Reps, John Conyers (D-Detroit) and Barney Frank (D-Mass.) on Tuesday wrote a letter to the Congressional Research Service requesting an investigation of ACORN, the anti-poverty group whose employees in Baltimore recently were caught on hidden camera offering questionable advice to conservative activists posing as a prostitute and pimp. In the letter, Conyers and Frank ask the nonpartisan research group to look into ACORN's alleged misbehavior, including funding violations and alleged voter registration irregularities. But they also question whether Congress' swift move to cut the group's funding was unconstitutional. Specifically, Conyers and Frank ask whether the funding cuts qualify as...

The Subprime home mortgage collapse...a Primer. It's ALL about the CRA of 1977 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) of 1977 - This required banks to offer credit throughout their entire market area for “underserved” populations and small businesses. The CRA gave incentives to help low income borrowers become “home owners”. Liberals call this group “low income borrowers”. Conservatives call them a RISK!The CRA was passed by the Carter administration. In 1995 the Clinton administration authorized subprime loans under the CRA. Democrats added these provisions for the securitization of subprime loans and then ENFORCED the lending to high risk individuals. By 2000,...

The only way they'd defund the outfit is if it endorsed the war in Iraq or Afghanistan.<--snip--> One of Acorn's leading Congressional enablers has been Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts. Last year Mr. Frank appeared in a promotional video for "Acorn's Grassroots Democracy Campaign," and this year he led the effort to repeal a year-old legal provision barring groups from receiving housing subsidies while under indictment for voter fraud. This he called "a violation of the basic principles of due process." Mr. Frank was absent yesterday when the House voted to defund Acorn, although he had been on the House...

Nothing succeeds like failure. Here's a press release from the National Community Reinvestment Coalition: Expansion of Community Reinvestment Act Would Promote Economic Security and Financial Inclusion for For ... whom? Can't you guys at least finish your titles? I'm imagine in your "Who? Whom?" equation, I'll end up a Whom, but I don't think the end of your sentence was going to be "for Steve Sailer's Family." So, what's in Barney's Bill, H.R. 1479, the "Community Reinvestment Modernization Act of 2009"? - Extension of the CRA from mortgages to small business loans. - Inclusion of credit unions (my vague impression...

Frank Considers Cramdown LawRep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said slow progress in assisting troubled homeowners could lead to a new push to change bankruptcy laws. By United Press International September 10, 2009 WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Influential congressman Barney Frank, D-Mass., said slow progress in assisting troubled homeowners could lead to a new push to change bankruptcy laws. Frank, chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, said Congress should revisit the issue of allowing bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages if the banking industry does not increase the pace of its help to homeowners, The Washington Post reported Thursday. The...

Barney Frank wants Cabinet post By Bob Cusack - 09/07/09 05:07 PM ET Rep. Barney Frank is interested in capping his political career as a member of the president’s Cabinet, according to a new biography of the Financial Services Committee chairman. Frank (D-Mass.) told author Stuart Weisberg that he would like to be Housing and Urban Development secretary. However, the 69-year-old lawmaker stresses that his departure from Congress is not imminent. He first wants to pass more legislation on affordable housing, saying, “I want at least two years with President Obama and a solidly Democratic Senate so that we can...

If you've been to any tea party, then you've probably seen someone that supports H.R. 1207. That's a bill sponsored by Ron Paul that would mandate a full and complete audit. Now, if you're unfamiliar with the matter, you might be shocked. You'd probably assume that the finances and balance sheets of our own Central Bank would already be a matter of public record. Not so. The public doesn't know exactly what the central bank owes and owns. That appears to be coming to an end. H.R. 1207 is favored overwhelmingly. More than that, it gets support from a cross...

"The Trio" for Obamacare - the new Trio Zero Dollar - is now out for download and passing out to friends (or enemies) or leaving in various places for others to find. Front of the bill is first image. For the whole series of Zero dollar bills, go here: "Flickr Archive of Zero Bills"

NEW BEDFORD - US Representative Barney Frank became a YouTube star last week after a town-hall meeting in which he likened a constituent to household furniture, but much of his summer has been spent in uncommon quietude. As chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Frank is busy assembling a complex bill to give the federal government unprecedented control over the country’s financial institutions. It is as ambitious as any legislation jolting town halls and cable-news programs, and one that calls upon Frank’s lesser-known skills: discreet negotiation instead of the impatient insult showcased last Tuesday night in Dartmouth, when he...

Legislators start to push for Kennedy succession planBy State House News Service Sat Aug 22, 2009, 03:02 PM EDT Boston, Mass. - Amidst a new round of partisan sniping on Beacon Hill, poll results released Friday showed majority support among Massachusetts voters for a plan outlined by ailing Sen. Edward Kennedy to allow Gov. Deval Patrick to appoint a temporary U.S. senator in the event of a vacancy in the office. Fifty-two percent of likely Bay State voters say they agree with Kennedy’s request to change state law and allow the governor to name an interim senator until a special...

Are journalists playing favorites with some of the key political figures involved with regulatory oversight of U.S. financial markets? MSNBC’s Chris Matthews launched several vitriolic attacks on the Republican Party on his Sept. 17, 2008, show, suggesting blame for Wall Street problems should be focused in a partisan way. However, he and other media have failed to thoroughly examine the Democratic side of the blame game. Prominent Democrats ran Fannie Mae, the same government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) that donated campaign cash to top Democrats. And one of Fannie Mae’s main defenders in the House – Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., a recipient...

I could give you a bit of the interview Cavuto did … but why bother? Neil’s commentary at the end of the show is far more entertaining and far more revealing about Barney Frank … rude and disrespectful to his constituents. Come to think of it … it’s really become the Democrat mantra hasn’t it? And why not? In the Bay State he has set up the strangest geographical district ever created to assure a safe seat. (From Opencongress.org) ~ Says Cavuto, “I thought I stunk …. as it turns out, everyone stinks.” Enjoy!

Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank called Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia a "homophobe" in a recent interview with the gay news Web site 365gay.com . The Democratic lawmaker, who is gay, was discussing gay marriage and his expectation that the high court would some day be called upon to decide whether the Constitution allows the federal government to deny recognition to same-sex marriages. "I wouldn't want it to go to the United States Supreme Court now because that homophobe Antonin Scalia has too many votes on this current court," said Frank. The video of the interview is available online. Frank's office...

VIDEO: See the outbursts at Barney Frank's town hall

Frank Spars With Health Care CriticsAug 18, 2009 9:05 pm US/Eastern DARTMOUTH (AP) - Rep. Barney Frank took on critics when discussing health care reform and financial issues at a town hall-style meeting at a senior center in southeastern Massachusetts. More than 500 people showed up Tuesday night, with some shouting and booing as Frank spoke at the meeting organized by the Democratic Town Committee of Dartmouth. At least a dozen protesters gathered in small groups outside. The health care overhaul has generated controversy among Democrats and near unanimous opposition among Republicans. Frank blamed the war on Iraq for draining...

Barney should be the mascot for the Democratic Party. They admire and respect his not too respectable image. I'm not going to dwell on his "house of prostitution" in his apartment in Washington DC. I am going to say that homosexuals have a nasty image in my mind.

Nearly half of U.S. homeowners will owe more than their homes are worth in 2011, Deutsche Bank AG reports. The report estimates 48 percent of U.S. homeowners will be under water on their mortgage by the next two years, which nearly doubles the current 26 percent as of March 31. "We project the next phase of the housing decline will have a far greater impact on prime borrowers," Deutsche analysts Karen Weaver and Ying Shen said in the report. The drop in home prices is creating a cycle of foreclosures as it eliminates equity and gives borrowers motivations to walk...

         Republicans say that this President and his administration want to eliminate private health insurance? In the long term this is true, in fact, watch the video where the President and members of his administration say that ultimately they want the government to take over all of healthcare, which will obviously close down private insurers.           Is this what democrats voted for? Did they realize when they voted for change that they were also voting for staggering national debt that is unsustainable, destruction of the free enterprise system in the auto industry, and limiting the salaries of executives of private...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A senior House Democrat threatened banks Wednesday that if they don't volunteer to save more homeowners from foreclosure, Congress will make them. In a sternly worded statement, Rep. Barney Frank said Congress will revive legislation that would let bankruptcy judges write down a person's monthly mortgage payment if the number of loan modifications remain low...