Free Republic

Barney Frank, former chairman of the Financial Services Committee, was very cozy with the financial sector for a very long time. This should serve as indictment of legislative record. For the New York Times' leading Frank sanitizer, David Firestone, however, the Frank-Bank friendship is a sign of Frank's "moderation." Firestone blogs at the NYT, "economically, Mr. Frank is essentially a centrist." Firestone's evidence, point by point:  Frank "talks often of the need for a 'grand bargain' between business and liberals." This has a name. It's called corporatism. Call it corporate socialism, or corporate welfare. It's also not a crazy idea, when you...

The White House has released this statement on Barney Frank's retirement from President Obama, who has been meeting with European Union leaders since around noon: "This country has never had a Congressman like Barney Frank, and the House of Representatives will not be the same without him. For over 30 years, Barney has been a fierce advocate for the people of Massachusetts and Americans everywhere who needed a voice. He has worked tirelessly on behalf of families and businesses and helped make housing more affordable. He has stood up for the rights of LGBT Americans and fought to end discrimination...

Rep. Barney Frank announced Monday that he will not seek election to a 17th term. While the seat will definitely lean toward the Democrats, the election to replace Frank will likely be somewhat competitive. Massachusetts lost a seat in the 2010 decennial redistricting. In addition to eliminating that seat, state Democrats wanted to shore up the party’s performance in the former 10th district, in southeastern Massachusetts. As such, Frank's district was changed fairly dramatically, and about half of it would have been new territory for him. In particular, the district lost some white working-class towns in the southern portion of...

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said the congressional supercommittee's failure Monday to come to an agreement on spending reforms was “good news” because it will help to end the Bush-era tax cuts and give Democrats more bargaining power in budget negotiations. Groups on the edges of both the liberal and conservative spectrums have cheered the death of the supercommittee. Liberal groups like the Progressive Change Campaign Committee were happy that programs such as Social Security and Medicare were spared, while Tea Party conservative groups applauded the breakdown in talks because no tax increases emerged from the deficit-reduction panel. The supercommittee’s failure...

The Obama administration’s efforts to fix the housing crisis may have fallen well short of helping millions of distressed mortgage holders, but they have led to seven-figure paydays for some top executives at troubled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, the government regulator for Fannie and Freddie, approved $12.79 million in bonus pay after 10 executives from the two government-sponsored corporations last year met modest performance targets tied to modifying mortgages in jeopardy of foreclosure. The executives got the bonuses about two years after the federally backed mortgage giants received nearly $170 billion in...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Government-controlled mortgage giant Freddie Mac has requested $6 billion in additional aid after posting a wider loss in the third quarter. Freddie Mac said Thursday that it lost $6 billion, or $1.86 per share, in the July-September quarter. That compares with a loss of $4.1 billion, or $1.25 a share, in the same quarter of 2010. This quarter's $6 billion request from taxpayers is the largest since April 2010. Freddie's losses are increasing mainly for two reasons: Many homeowners are paying less interest because they are able to refinance at lower mortgage rates. And failing and bankrupt...

President Barack Obama may be smarting because his sweeping jobs bill has mostly stalled in Congress, but the Dodd-Frank bill—much maligned as a job killer—could boost the kind of work Democrats find hard to tout. The Dodd-Frank financial reform overhaul last year aimed to curb the excessive Wall Street risk-taking that nearly leveled the financial system. It subjected the $600 trillion global derivatives market to regulation, increased banking oversight and created a new consumer protection bureau, among other measures. And a debate has raged ever since over the impact of Dodd-Frank, with Republicans asserting the costs and uncertainty created by...

President Obama’s message to spur the economy has changed from “pass this bill” to “we can’t wait.” And mortgage rates are the impatient administration’s first target. Rather than waiting for congressional action to improve the outlook for homeowners, the White House is making it easier to refinance loans backed by the Home Affordable Refinance Program. Though the executive branch can’t legally reach into the practices of private lenders, here is a look at a list of changes (and nudges) the administration plans to implement beginning on Nov. 15:

The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday requested public comment on a proposed rule under Regulation Z that would require creditors to determine a consumer's ability to repay a mortgage before making the loan and would establish minimum mortgage underwriting standards. The revisions to the regulation, which implements the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), are being made pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The proposal would apply to ALL CONSUMER MORTGAGES(except home equity lines of credit, timeshare plans, reverse mortgages, or temporary loans).

Barney Frank: Straight and Gay Soldiers Must Shower Together, But Not Men and Women Tuesday, December 21, 2010 By Nicholas Ballasy (CNSNews.com) - Rep. Barney Frank (D.-Mass.) says he agrees with the recommendation of a Department of Defense (DOD) working group that straight and gay military personnel of the same gender should be required to shower together when the repeal of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law goes into effect. Frank, however, said Armed Forces personnel of opposite sexes should not shower together. “What do you think happens in gyms all over America? What do you think happens in the...

With his wife Hope and son Theo beside him, Bielat said his campaign had done the impossible. "We took on a 30-year incumbent, in the most gerrymandered district, who outspent us by $1 million. And we came close," Bielat said. "We have created, in the 4th District, a choice." "This is not the speech I wanted to give," Bielat said, but he insisted the race would be closer than the 58 percent to 39 percent split projected at 10:30 p.m., when he spoke.

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank received an endorsement from an unusual source Friday - a former Republican opponent. Edward McCormick of Norfolk, who ran unsuccessfully against Frank in 1992, said he was supporting his former foe because of his superior knowledge of issues and his willingness to work with Republicans to get things done. "Perhaps it's not every day in politics that a former opponent endorses Congressman Barney Frank. However, these are not ordinary times and as a Republican, I'm proud to support Barney Frank for re-election because of his leadership, commitment, and willingness to always hold true to his principles,"...

Among longtime politicians who are being seriously challenged for the first time this election year, Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts best epitomizes the cynical ruthlessness that hides behind their lofty rhetoric. Having been a key figure in promoting the risky mortgage lending practices imposed by the federal government on lenders, and on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy these risky mortgages from the lenders, Frank blamed the resulting collapse of financial markets and the economy on everybody except Barney Frank. In February 2009, as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Congressman Frank summoned the heads of some of...

Emily Rooney moderated a debate between Barney Frank and Sean Bielat on October 14th. Rooney starts by noting that Bielat has come from outside of politics to be a surprisingly strong challenge to Frank. She calls it the “race everyone is talking about.” As usual, Frank does most of the talking. Bielat has been learning how to get Frank to hang himself, and at many points during the debate, Frank does just that. Bielat has Frank almost stuttering and blabbering trying to make complex arguments that appear to make no sense. Rooney had to cut Frank off several times in...

A Barney Frank "supporter" caught on a Herald video heckling Republican Sean Bielat is the congressman’s longtime domestic partner Jim Ready, Bielat’s campaign said this morning.

Not good publicity for the chairman, whose race has become much more interesting in recent weeks: U.S. Rep. Barney Frank didn’t get just a free luxury jet ride to the Virgin Islands with a financier who got a $200 million federal bailout, he also stayed at the billionaire’s tropical mansion, his aide said. “They’re friends. Are you not supposed to have friends if they’re wealthy?” Frank spokesman Harry Gural said of the Newton Democrat’s relationship with S. Donald Sussman. That’s an interesting way of framing it. I think the answer is that you’re not supposed to bail out your wealthy...

US Representative Barney Frank, facing his most serious opponent in more than two decades, wooed the people of Taunton and the Fourth Congressional District yesterday with a rally at Taunton High School that included promise of a better future — and a visit from Bill Clinton. After more than an hour’s wait, time that was filled with songs by the high school choir and jazz band, the estimated 2,500 in attendance welcomed the former president with a boisterous round of applause, as the sounds of Fleetwood Mac boomed in the background: “Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.’’ “I’m glad to be...

<p>Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank caused a scene when he demanded a $1 senior discount on his ferry fare to Fire Island's popular gay haunt, The Pines, last Friday.</p> <p>Frank was turned down by ticket clerks at the dock in Sayville because he didn't have the required Suffolk County Senior Citizens ID. A witness reports, "Frank made such a drama over the senior rate that I contemplated offering him the dollar to cool down the situation." Frank made news last year when he was spotted looking uncomfortable around a bevy of topless, well-built men at the Pines Annual Ascension Beach Party.</p>

Wasilla, AK—In honoring the Boy Scouts of America’s 100th Anniversary, Sarah Palin has laid down the gauntlet on Congressman Barney Frank, D-MA, challenging him to a weenie roast at high noon on the White House lawn on April 25, 2009. Many agree that this is a daunting challenge for Palin, considering that there isn’t a weenie that Frank doesn’t know how to roast. The challenge will determine who would’ve been the better Boy Scout: Palin or Frank? And Palin isn’t holding back, breaking out the Hebrew National brand of Kosher Beef Hot Dogs, knowing that Barney Frank’s strength in weenies...

A new bill in Congress to increase financial regulation would allow the federal government to seize institutions deemed “too big to fail” if Treasury saw a large enough risk of collapse. McClatchy reports that some on Capitol Hill have begun to refer to it as a “death panel” for banks, apparently more as a joke than a concern. Have any of them actually read the Constitution, especially the Fifth Amendment? Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, worked over the weekend and throughout Monday to draft the legislation. It would provide the government with first-ever...