Free Republic

Congressman Barney Frank wants to prevent unemployed homeowners from losing their houses by giving them government money to pay their mortgages.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were the chief culprits in the housing crisis because they encouraged people who could not afford payments to borrow money, according to a congressional report released Tuesday.

Barney Frank: Online Gambling a RightSpoke in front of 1,700 poker players at the World Series of Poker By Daniel O Jul 07, 2009 Critic of military spending, protector of the environment and legislative leader on behalf of home owners across the United States, Representative Barney Frank (D - MA) visited Las Vegas on Sunday to speak at the World Series of Poker. His message at the event was a hopeful one. The powerful Congress member has kept been fighting against the current ban on online gambling. Two bills sponsored by Rep. Frank - HR2266 and HR2267 - aim to...

JULY 3, 2009 New Evidence on the Foreclosure Crisis Zero money down, not subprime loans, led to the mortgage meltdown. Article STAN LIEBOWITZ. What is really behind the mushrooming rate of mortgage foreclosures since 2007? The evidence from a huge national database containing millions of individual loans strongly suggests that the single most important factor is whether the homeowner has negative equity in a house -- that is, the balance of the mortgage is greater than the value of the house. This means that most government policies being discussed to remedy woes in the housing market are misdirected. Many policy...

Although Obama sympathizers managed to derail what would have been the area’s largest Tea Party, they cound not stifle the movement. Over 7,000 patriots came to Jim Miller Park in Marietta to voice their disgust with Washington’s deaf ears. Video and photos available in the original article.

DURHAM, N.C., July 2 (UPI) -- A North Carolina university administrator has been charged with inviting a Washington police officer posing as a pedophile to molest his adopted son. Frank McCorkle Lombard was arrested in North Carolina, the Raleigh News & Sentinel reported. U.S. marshals took custody of McCorkle Tuesday and he is expected to appear in a Washington court next week. An affidavit submitted by Timothy Palchak, a Washington detective working with the Northern Virginia Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, said the investigation began in June when a man charged with child pornography told police he had...

Financial lobby gears up effort against Obama planBy Silla Brush Posted: 07/02/09 12:35 PM [ET] A coalition of financial services interests is in the process of organizing a major lobbying campaign against the Obama administration's plan for a Consumer Financial Protection Agency. The plans are not yet final, but among the groups and firms in the discussion are the American Financial Services Association, Financial Services Roundtable, Mortgage Bankers Association and Community Bankers Association, according to two industry sources familiar with the plans. The budget could be as high as several millions of dollars to organize grassroots opposition to the plan,...

Byron York is on to Barney Frank, who’s hand has been caught in the cookie jar, AGAIN. When President Obama announced on June 9 that some financial institutions would be allowed to repay Troubled Asset Relief Program dollars, he said the massively expensive TARP bailout had made money for the federal government. “It is worth noting that in the first round of repayments from these [TARP recipients], the government has actually turned a profit,” the president said. Indeed, TARP supporters have long held out the hope that the program might be profitable.

BARNEY'S BACKPosted: 3:31 am June 28, 2009 Rep. Barney Frank says that unless Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac relax their recent tightening of mortgage standards on new condominiums, the economic recovery could be threatened. That would be the same Barney Frank who famously boasted that the two federal agencies -- which lost billions by making improvident loans -- were "fundamentally sound financially and [can] withstand . . . disaster scenarios." Then came the disasters. But to Barney Frank, Fannie and Freddie are essentially taxpayer-funded social-service agencies whose mission is to turn all Americans into homeowners -- whether or not they...

B A controversial law in Massachusetts could go national if Congressman Barney Frank gets his way. Frank has filed a bill that would eliminate federal penalties for personal possession of less than 100 grams of marijuana. It would also make the penalty for using marijuana in public just $100. "I think John Stuart Mill had it right in the 1850s," said Congressman Frank, "when he argued that individuals should have the right to do what they want in private, so long as they don't hurt anyone else. It's a matter of personal liberty. Moreover, our courts are already stressed and...

The F-22 Raptor, the most advanced fighter jet in the world, is in a dogfight with a tough adversary: Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). Frank, the chairman of the Financial Services Committee, said Tuesday he is “vigorously” opposed to Lockheed Martin’s F-22 fighter jet. Frank has called recent congressional efforts to add more money for the production of the F-22 a “major assault” on President Obama’s efforts to control military spending. Frank is intent on striking $369 million authorized for the procurement of advance materials and items necessary to build 12 additional F-22s. House defense authorizers, in a surprising move, last...

Frank's wise investing eases stock stingPublished: June 22, 2009 at 11:25 AM WASHINGTON, June 22 (UPI) -- A conservative investment strategy helped shield Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., from being bruised by the battered stock market, his financial report indicates. Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, put his $896,000 investment portfolio largely in state and local municipal bonds, the Boston Globe reported after reviewing the financial disclosure reports of Frank and other lawmakers. "It's not just coincidence -- it's putting my money where my mouth is," said Frank, who has ripped Wall Street for risky financial behavior many blame...

Frank stormed off the set after exchanging heated words with CNBC's host. "It seems to be that you're dealing with a model that no longer works," CNBC's host said of Frank's proposed executive pay rules, which would give shareholders much greater control over compensation. Then things escalated. After Frank said, "May I respond sir?" several times, the interview devolved into a mini-shouting match, and not much was settled. WATCH: http://www.butasforme.com/2009/06/11/video-barney-frank-pulls-plug-on-cnbc-this-interview-is-over-on-topic-of-executive-compensation/

If a liberal Democrat can't please NBC News, who can he please?

Barney Frank talked about limiting executive pay across the board not just limiting it to bailout companies. Barney Frank tried to misrepresent the questions and was totally evasive on being direct. Frank may be on the finance committe but there is no question he does not understand real world ecconomices. It is further clear Barney Frank is disconnected from any kind of outside the betway reality. The time index to watch is after 5 minutes 35 seconds. At that point is where he hissy fits and ends the interview.

All hail BarneyWall Streeters court the man from Mass. They have to. He's calling the shots. By Aaron Elstein June 07, 2009 5:59 AM Just about everyone in banking wants to be Barney Frank's friend nowadays. Last week, 600 people, including executives from Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Chase, filled the cavernous National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., for a $5,000-per-table tribute to the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. He is marshaling legislation that promises to make Wall Street a more regulated and less prosperous place for years to come, and to hear it from some of the...

Report says mortgage lenders helped fuel global economic crisisBy Kevin Smith, Staff Writer Posted: 05/06/2009 06:10:29 PM PDT PASADENA - A new report places failed mortgage lender IndyMac Bancorp Inc. among the top 25 lenders whose subprime loans are largely blamed for triggering the global economic meltdown. In a study released Wednesday by the Center For Public Integrity, IndyMac ranked 14th on the list, with at least $26.4 billion in subprime loans issued. Collectively, the top 25 lenders were responsible for nearly $1 trillion in subprime loans, according to the report entitled "Who's Behind the Financial Meltdown." John Dunbar, project...

U.S. Rep. Paul Broun (R-Georgia) is trying to get his so-called Bible bill made into law. And while it's not likely to happen any time soon, it's a wonderful idea...at least in theory. What's wrong with a law which would declare 2010 the "year of the Bible"? Given that we already have days for secretaries, months for reading and have parsed the calendar for just about every other purpose and cause from artichokes to zebras, it's almost silly that we have not already done this. Would it really be so wrong to honor the most influential book, for better or...

Rep. Barney Frank, advocate of stimulating the economy5/20/2009 Positions: Chairman, House Financial Services Committee; has represented Massachusetts' 4th Congressional District since 1981. Party: Democrat. Personal: Born March 31, 1940, in Bayonne, N.J. Single. Why he's in the news: Frank's leadership position in the House gives him enormous influence on legislative measures intended to stimulate the economy. Resume: Bachelor's degree, Harvard University, 1962; graduate work in political science and teaching fellow in government, Harvard, 1962-72; J.D., Harvard Law School, 1977; staff, Boston Mayor Kevin White, 1968-71; staff, Democratic U.S. Rep. Michael Harrington of Massachusetts, 1971-72; member, Massachusetts Legislature, 1973-80; U.S. congressman,...

Michele Bachmann faced off with Barney Frank on the Lou Dobbs show last night over Bachmann's proposal to strip ACORN of any federal funds, by denying money to groups who have any members that become indicted.

Link only - Lawmakers: Census Should Include Gay Couples

House votes to outlaw 'liar loans'Created: 05/08/2009 2:30 PM WASHINGTON (AP) - The House voted Thursday to outlaw "liar loans," ballooning mortgage payments and other bank practices that lawmakers say preyed on consumers who couldn't afford their homes. The proposal, by North Carolina Democratic Reps. Brad Miller and Melvin Watt, is one of several that Democrats are pushing to tighten controls on an industry that critics say undermined the economy by underwriting risky loans, then passing them off to investors. The bill passed 300-114, with many Republicans contending it would limit consumers' options and restrict credit. Democrats said it would...

Rep. Barney Frank to visit LibraryBy Staff reports Fri May 08, 2009, 05:48 PM EDT Lakeville - Congressman Barney Frank will be visiting the Lakeville Library on Saturday, May 16 at 10 a.m. for a meet-and-greet/coffee hour.

Bigger Than Watergate?By Olivier Garret, CEO, Casey Research Posted Wednesday, 6 May 2009 Reportedly, Bill O’Reilly referred to a recent story out of our nation’s capital as “bigger than Watergate.” Whether the story is bigger than Watergate or not, it is definitely a scandal of huge proportions. To sum it up, on April 23, 2009, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sent a letter to Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Chris Dodd; Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee Barney Frank; SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro; and Chairwoman of the Congressional Oversight Panel Elizabeth...

Frank Sees TARP-Free Banks Within a YearApril 28, 2009, 5:55 pm Representative Barney Frank, the powerful chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, predicted Tuesday that the American banking system could be free of government bailout money within a year. Mr. Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, said it would be “good for public confidence” if large banks repaid the money they received from the government’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. He noted that he had a difference of opinion with Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner over how soon banks should repay the bailout money. “We’re hoping there won’t...

Frank and Bachmann do battle over key ACORN amendment @ 2:29 pm by Michael O'Brien Two partisan heavyweights did battle Thursday over an amendment prized by conservatives, as House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) withdrew backing for a bill that would have toughened regulations for community organizing groups. Frank withdrew his support from an amendment offered by Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) that would forbid groups like the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN) from receiving federal grants if any of their employees have been indicted for voter fraud. After approving the amendment by a unanimous voice vote,...

Goldman Sachs' new top lobbyist was recently the top staffer to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., on the House Financial Services Committee chaired by Frank. Michael Paese, a registered lobbyist for the Securities Industries and Financial Markets Association since he left Frank's committee in September, will join Goldman as director of government affairs, a role held last year by former Tom Daschle intimate, Mark Patterson, now the chief of staff at the Treasury Department. This is not Paese's first swing through the Wall Street-Congress revolving door: he previously worked at JP Morgan and Mercantile Bankshares, and in between served as senior...

(I DON'T CARE IF THIS HAS BEEN POSTED 300 TIMES BEFORE, IT IS NECESSARY THAT WE ALL UNDERSTAND WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CURRENT MESS. AND, YES, I MEAN TO SHOUT. I'M MAD AS HELL!! IF YOU'RE NOT ALSO MAD AS HELL, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHERE THIS IS TAKING US AND WHO ORCHESTRATED IT. BEFORE IT IS PULLED FROM THE CANADIAN SITE, WATCH THIS 4 MINUTE VIDEO TO UNDERSTAND WHY I'M SICK AND TIRED OF OBAMBI MUTTERING THAT HE "INHERITED" THIS MESS. THE MESS HAS ITS ROOTS WITH THE DEMOCRATS GOING ALL THE WAY BACK TO CARTER!! FRANK, DODD, SCHUMER,...

Barney Frank's Rental ReversalApril 21, 2009 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Now, we've got a couple Barney Frank spites here. He's always good for a couple sound bites. We thought about getting a Barney Frank translator in here but that would sorta destroy it. I mean, I can do it myself but sometimes it's better to leave Barney Frank un-translated. He was on Tavis Smiley's show, PBS, last night, and Smiley said, "What did you do today relative to low-income housing?" FRANK: One of the causes of the terrible crisis we had over the last few years, which has given us today's...

Another classy lady.

Frank sent messageBY JIM HAND SUN CHRONICLE STAFF Sunday, April 19, 2009 4:49 AM EDT MANSFIELD - About 15 demonstrators holding signs that read "Stop Wasting Our Money" and "Barney Lied" protested against U.S. Rep. Barney Frank outside a Democratic Party breakfast Saturday morning. The demonstrators said they blame Frank, D-Newton, who spoke at the breakfast, for much of the financial crisis gripping the nation's economy, and said they oppose government bailouts of banks. Similar protests have greeted Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, at other events, including one in Westport last October. Olivier Kozlowski, a Mansfield Republican,...

Pacheco, Frank, Ballard speak at global warming meetingBy TIM FAULKNER, Staff Writer GateHouse News Service Posted Apr 15, 2009 @ 10:58 PM FALL RIVER — A panel of political leaders and a famous oceanographer advised students at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth to make the best of a bad situation and embrace global warming. “The world is literally your future,” state Sen. Marc Pacheco, D-Taunton, told a crowd of about 200 students assembled in the school library Wednesday. Congressman Barney Frank, D-Mass, oceanographer Robert Ballard, and Pacheco were recognized for their efforts to combat global warming and support green industries. The...

Frank is 'Distinguished Champion of Housing Opportunities'April 11, 2009 6:00 AM ACUSHNET — The Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) announced that it has named Congressman Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, its first "Distinguished Champion of Housing Opportunities." Frank received the proclamation from the association for his tireless work and support for legislation and regulations to ensure a robust and sustainable housing market. MAR made the presentation to the chairman at the New Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce's Annual Congressional Luncheon on Friday, March 27, in Acushnet. "Chairman Frank has long been a leading voice in Congress...

Fire Barney Frank first, AIG executives nextDUSTIN HURST Arbiter Journalist Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: Opinion For the first time in my politically-aware life, I have found myself in a very awkward and precarious position: agreeing with Rep. Barney Frank. Being a staunch conservative, I often thought hell would freeze over before Frank and I could find common ground on any political issue. I guess it's time to grab my snowboard and take the next bus straight to hell (or the fourth district of Massachusetts, which is Frank's congressional district). In response to AIG handing out $165 million in contractual bonuses...

Don’t blame GOP for this messWednesday, April 8, 2009 Hoover most certainly did not ignore the problems. Hoover (contrary to his fundamental beliefs) took action. Unfortunately, as explained in Amity Schlae’s “The Forgotten Man,” Hoover “by intervening in business, signing into law a destructive tariff, and by assailing the stockmarket” did damage on all three fronts. You also are apparently unaware of the massive public projects at federal and state level that Hoover pushed for as part of his program to retain employment and high wages. The Republicans did not have a program of “doing nothing” as you stated. The...

It all started with a question: “How much responsibility, if any, do you have for the financial crisis?” Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) and a conservative Harvard law student debated over how Frank should have handled his role as the House Chairman of the Financial Services Committee. Frank was at Harvard University for a speech at the Kennedy School of Government. Frank said the student wasn’t backing up his claims, invoking some laughter from the crowd, and the student told Frank he wasn’t answering his question. See Video of Harvard Student Takes On Rep. Barney Frank click hereDaily Flag-waver

Thomas Frank, a polemicist of leftist chaos, thinks very little of large sections of America. He's at it again in the Wall Street Journal, talking down to conservatives. Hired as part of the WSJ's affirmative action program for the congenitally irrational, Frank frequently laments the supposed stupidity of his fellow Kansans for being duped into supporting American values like, for example, a love of capitalism and freedom. He is a master of progressive condescension who wrote the surprisingly influential liberal tract, What's the Matter with Kansas: How Conservatives Won the Heart of America. Frank leans heavily on the Marxist concept...

WFXT-TV: It all started with a question: "How much responsibility, if any, do you have for the financial crisis?" Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) and a conservative Harvard law student debated over how Frank should have handled his role as the House Chairman of the Financial Services Committee.

When the tree fell in the financial forest, the reported sound was deafening but hardly anyone talked about the ax. Imagine if Hitler had won World War Two and having done so, his historians and propaganda machine would never speak of his crimes. Rather, they would blame all the problems on those horrible, nasty Jews led by Churchill and Roosevelt...

The Founding Fathers conceived the Senate as a place where hastily-passed, ill-conceived legislation could be stopped. And that's what will likely happen this time.

A very particular psychological disorder, as it turns out: They think giving Tim Geithner carte blanche to regulate “excessive” compensation at firms receiving TARP money might be a bad idea. This is a sequel of sorts to yesterday’s vid of Cavuto pounding Democrat Alan Grayson for writing the bill that would grant Geithner that discretion. Frank’s spinning it here as little more than an expanded version of the bill to tax the AIG bonuses that so many House Republicans supported. If they objected to excessive compensation in that case, he reasons, why wouldn’t they object to it in other cases...

During an impassioned debate on the House floor Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Barney Frank characterized Republican opposition to the Pay for Performance Act as a manifestation of "a psychological disorder" and compared GOP lawmakers to "kids who have had a toy bear or a security blanket" taken away.

Bill Haling: Where’s the outrage? President Obama has been in office just 60 days and we have tripled the nation’s debt. Wow! All those that voted for change certainly got it — along with the rest of the taxpayers. Everyone knows this depression is Bush’s fault. “Give the stimulus time!” is the response. The Bush depression will take time for the Democrats to rescue this country. How long will it take for our children and grandchildren to pay for the excesses? Any outrage? The news of AIG paying $165 million in executive bonuses has certainly created a lot of media...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., sent a letter to the President Monday pledging to enact new regulations for the financial sector by the end of the year. In their letter, Dodd and Frank told President Barack Obama they agree with the outline that Secretary Treasury Timothy Geithner unveiled last week. "We agree on the core principles for modernizing the financial regulatory system that you and Secretary Geithner have articulated, including providing for systemic risk regulation, strengthening consumer and investor protection, streamlining prudential supervision and addressing gaps in regulation," they...

Who’s the real AIG-bonus villain?by Gene Lyons If everything you knew about President Barack Obama’s role in the AIG bonus fiasco was his recent “60 Minutes” appearance, you’d feel reassured. On television, Obama gave a masterful performance, all calm confidence and disarming smile. Was he surprised by public outrage over $165 million taxpayer dollars handed out like free casino booze to the crap-shooters who trashed the economy? “Our team wasn’t surprised by it,” he said. “The one thing that I’ve tried to emphasize, though ... as we dig ourselves out of this economic hole that we’re in, we can’t govern...

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank went after “Code Pink” protesters during a congressional hearing yesterday, telling the pink-clad activists to “act your age” and “grow up.” ...“Will you please act your age?” snapped Frank, a Newton Democrat. “If you have no greater powers of concentration, then you leave the room. We’re trying to have a serious discussion. . . . We really need people to grow up.”

The mantra today is that we must get the toxic assets out of the banks and other financial institutions. That way, the banks will be on a sound footing, going forward. That may or may not be true. But, who are the experts assuring us that various steps are needed, now? Well, two key people in this process are Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass) and Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn.). Barney Frank had a sexual relationship with the federal official in charge of new products from Fannie Mae. Those new products were the bundled toxic assets that collapsed and started the meltdown....

The anger in the threats against AIG executives is palpable. "Get the bonus, we will get your children," someone identified only as "Jacob the Killer" hauntingly writes in an e-mail. His is one of dozens of threats against AIG and its employees that were obtained from Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's office under a Freedom of Information Act request by NBC Connecticut. Surprisingly, some of those making the threats left their e-mail addresses and phone numbers - making the job of law enforcement officers easier. Here are some of the highlights (or rather, low-lights). We've cleaned up some of the...

Act Your Age! Barney Frank Barks at CodePink LadiesMarch 25, 2009 12:56 PM ET By Amanda Ruggeri, Washington Whispers Missing in all the coverage yesterday dominated by President Obama's press conference and his economic team seeking expanded bank-seizing authority was the craziness at the AIG hearings before Rep. Barney Frank's Financial Services Committee. The setting: Before the committee were Fed chief Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner talking about the economy and their bank plan. Behind them in the audience were the always outspoken CodePink women, an antiwar grass-roots organization that has expanded its attentions from Dick Cheney and...

One of the more familiar sayings in politics is, "Don't get angry, get even." The anger caused by using millions in taxpayer bailout money to pay "retention" bonuses to current and former American International Group Inc. employees and to fund banks that mostly won't tell what they did with the money is an object lesson for all of us. It offers taxpayers an opportunity to "get even" with those who have violated the U.S. Constitution, helped put our nation in peril and spent us into economic servitude to the Chinese. President Obama has said he is angry, too, but he...