Is Barney Frank the Teflon Congressman?

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Barney Frank, the Teflon Congressman
by Sammy Benoit

Barney Frank is the "Teflon Congressman." He was a leading opponent of regulating Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac and was able to transfer the entire blame on President Bush. He never had to answer why he fought so hard to squash regulation, was it the tons of campaign cash Frank got from Freddie and Fannie or the fact that Frank's former lover was the former director of housing initiatives for Fannie Mae.

On October 20, 2008 Fox News reported Frank, who is openly gay, had a relationship with Herb Moses, an executive for the now-government controlled Fannie Mae. The column revealed the two had split up in 1998, but prior to that Frank had pushed through some controversial legislation favorable to Fannie. A 1998 Washington Post report said Frank called Moses his "lover" and that the two were "still friends" after the breakup.

Of course no one calls Barney on it even though, according to his words they should:

Frank has argued that family life "should be fair game for campaign discussion," wrote the Associated Press on Sept. 2. The comment was in reference to GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and her pregnant daughter. He continued with, "They're the ones that made an issue of her family."

Well Barney since you argued that it should be fair game, shouldn't we be investigating whether you got direction from Moses (and I am not talking about the Ten Commandments).

Frank aggressively fought reform efforts by the Bush administration. He told the NY Times in 2003; Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's problems were "exaggerated,"

"These two entities - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - are not facing any kind of financial crisis. The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing." New York Times Sept. 11, 2003.

So maybe Barney made a little mistake about the twin-headed Fannie/Freddie monster. Guess who pays for Barney's little fiduciary fax pas? Since his statement regarding the solvency of those organizations, the American Public has had hundreds of billions of dollars sucked out of our wallets to keep Freddie/Fannie solvent.

The 10/8/03 Washington Post reported that Frank opposed giving the Bush administration the approval rights over banking business activities that "could pose risk to the taxpayers." He worried the Treasury Department "would sacrifice activities that are good for consumers in the name of lowering the companies' market risks."

Frank got away with all of that. No wonder why he acts as if nothing can touch him, or that anyone who disagrees with him is biased, stupid or just wrong.

Now the Powerful Chairman of the House Banking Committee is at it again. As part of the release of the Banking Bailout Dollars, he directed funds to a local Massachusetts bank cited by regulators for their excesses (they bought the CEO a Porsche). Even worse the Bank has been cited for unsound business practices:

Frank, head of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, acknowledged that last fall he inserted into the government's $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program bill specific language to help OneUnited, New England's only black-owned bank. He also said he contacted someone at the Treasury Department about OneUnited's application for emergency TARP funds, though he insisted he never asked Treasury to bend any rules on behalf of OneUnited.

"I believe it would have been a very big mistake to put the only black bank out of business," Frank said in an interview.

OneUnited was financially reeling from the federal government's takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both of which had their shares wiped out by the government action. OneUnited owned substantial shares in the two mortgage giants, Frank said....

"..But OneUnited was also facing regulatory scrutiny last fall from other government agencies, which later slapped a cease-and-desist order on OneUnited due to "unsafe and unsound banking practices."

Regulators also complained of "excessive" executive pay at OneUnited - including a Porsche for use by CEO Kevin Cohee.

Barney Keller, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Republican Party, said he wasn't surprised by Frank's action.

"Rep. Frank's motives on the committee have always been politics first, people second, which is exactly how we got ourselves into this mess in the first place," Keller said. "I hope he at least gets to test-drive the Porsche."

Barney, taking care of friends is a noble gesture, but please do it with your own money!!

Being a leading player in the collapse of our banking system has not hurt Frank, neither has his apparent conflict of interests, I doubt very much whether this will hurt him either. And that is a shame, because the man is a menace to the US economy.