What Barney is Saying
Asking the White House to support more government intervention was "like asking me to judge the Miss America contest — if your heart's not in it, you don't do a very good job." (May 13, 2008; New York Times)
When Representative Shelley Moore Capito, Republican of West Virginia, criticized a component of the housing bill that would give money to local governments to buy and repair foreclosed properties, saying it would not protect homeowners from foreclosure, Mr. Frank fired back that preventing foreclosures was the goal of a different bill.
"The notion that this bill doesn't keep people out of foreclosure is true," he said. "It doesn't combat global warming. It doesn't get troops out of Iraq. It won't help me lose weight. There are a lot of things this bill won't do that I very much want to do. None of them are a reason to vote against a bill that doesn't do what it doesn't say it's going to do but does what it does. What it does is go to the aid of cities that have been victimized." (May 13, 2008; New York Times)
"[O]ne very conservative Republican incumbent in Indiana warned in a radio ad [in 2006] that if people voted for his opponent, Speaker Pelosi would allow me to implement the "radical homosexual agenda." I am pleased to be able to note that the right-winger in question was literally the first incumbent to be declared defeated on election night in 2006, but this left me with a dilemma. Apparently, there
were people in a Congressional district in Indiana who now expected me to produce a "radical homosexual agenda." And I didn't have one. I do have things I would like to see adopted on behalf of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people: they include the right to marry the individual of our choice; the right to serve in the military to defend our country; and the right to a job based solely on our own qualifications. I acknowledge that this is an agenda, but I do not think that any self-respecting radical in history would have considered advocating people's rights to get married, join the army, and earn a living as a terribly inspiring revolutionary platform."
Excerpt from written testimony submitted by Congressman Frank for Massachusetts State Legislature hearing on the Inclusion of People who are Transgender in Antidiscrimination Legislation (March 4, 2008)
"…Rep. Barney Frank, the Massachusetts Democrat who helped frame the housing part of the stimulus package…noted that because of the short-term urgency of the recession threat, "we are able to come tighter in a bipartisan way."
"And," he said, "partisanship is, I believe, a much unfairly maligned concept. Partisanship is essential to a healthy democracy. There has never been a self-governing policy in the history of the world, I believe, of any size where political parties did not emerge, because large numbers of people trying to govern themselves need an organizing principle other than the authority of the leadership."
A Did-Something Congress
David Broder
The Washington Post
2-14-08
As we prepare for this autumn's election, the results are in on America's 30-year experiment with radical deregulation. Income inequality has risen to levels not seen since the 1920s and the collapse of the unregulated portion of the mortgage and secondary markets threatens the health of the overall economy.
These two economic failures will be major issues in the forthcoming presidential election, and, importantly, there is an emerging Democratic consensus standing in sharp contrast to the laissez faire Republican approach.
There are two central elements of this consensus. Democrats believe that government's role as regulator is essential in maintaining confidence in the integrity and fairness of markets, and we believe that economic growth alone is not enough to reverse unacceptable levels of income inequality. In the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis, credit markets around the world contracted sharply in response to concerns among market participants about the value of exotic and opaque securities being offered in largely unregulated secondary markets . This staggering implosion and its damaging and widespread reverberations make it clear that a mature capitalist economy is as likely to suffer form too little regulation as from too much.
Why America Needs A Little Less Laissez-Faire
Financial Times
1-13-08
Excerpt from Op-Ed by Barney Frank
"The only acceptable reason to be in politics, is that you have a view of public policy that you want to have enacted. I am now in a position to affect public policy more than I ever thought I would."…
[W]hen scheduled to run a financial services hearing as well as testify for a gay rights bill at another hearing, he wore a pin-striped suit and lavender tie. "A sartorial statement," explained Frank, the first openly gay Congressman.
Frank Checks Tongue As He Wields Power
Boston Globe
9-19-07
By Robert Gavin
"It does seem to me now that we have the right to say to the rest of the country – not just Fall River and New Bedford but other cities
similarly situated – that we have contributed, albeit involuntarily to the national economic situation. We need some help."
SouthCoast Grapples With Identity, Focus (Excerpt)
New Bedford Standard-Times
9-25-07
By Steve Urbon
Reality has broken into our economic programming with an important message: the subprime crisis demonstrates the serious negative economic and social consequences that result from too little regulation.
In the debate between those who believe in essentially unregulated markets and others who hold the reasonable regulation diminishes market excesses without inhibiting their basic function, the subprime situation unfortunately provides ammunition for the latter view.
A (sub)prime argument for more regulation
Financial Times
8-20-07
Excerpt from Op-Ed by Barney Frank
Madam Speaker, in few areas of our public life is there a greater gap between what people say and what they do than with regard to conservatives who decry ``judicial activism.'' It is a constant refrain from conservatives that judges should not be intervening in the policy process to impose their own particular views, and that it is especially egregious when appointed judges make fundamental decisions that ought to be left to elected officials. Their
indignation is of course at its highest when decisions by some of those elected officials are in fact overturned by judges in the name of some judicial principle.
JUDICIAL ACTIVISM: THE CONSERVATIVES' SECRET PASSION -- (Extensions of Remarks - July 13, 2007) Excerpt from statement of Rep. Frank (House
of Representatives, July 12, 2007)
“I do not understand those who argue that the people who make up our stock markets are collectively very wise, but at the same time are somehow incapable of rendering a coherent opinion of what they should pay those they employ to run the corporations that they own.” April 12, 2007, The Politico
“Too many certifications of financial statements are required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act,” House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., said at a conference last week. But the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in Washington and the Securities and Exchange Commission “will appropriately scale it back,” and no legislation is needed, he told about 600 attendees at the Council for Institutional Investors’ spring meeting here. “The accountants probably, in helping draft 404 regulations, overdid it a little bit, and we violated a very important principle: Never ask your barber if you need a haircut,” Mr. Frank said, getting a laugh from the council’s membership. Investment News, volume 11, Number 12
“We have this ass-backward view that if we spend money on Boeing, beer, NASCAR, and pornographic movies, that’s good, it’s adding to the GDP. But if I’m really sick and I want a private hospital room instead of being in a ward, that sends the GDP percentage of health care up and that’s bad. My solution is Medicare for everyone, with increasing co-pays according to your income.” January 8, 2007, Business Week.
“Mr. Speaker, we have just heard a great example of an important form of political debate. The Republicans specialize in this. It is kind of political necrophilia. There is this love of dead Democrats among many Republicans. Democrats who, when they were alive were trashed by the right wing, once they were dead and safely no longer possibly candidates for office, get lionized. Nothing of course shows that better than with Harry Truman, but it is John Kennedy, and it is others. The assertion that the Democrats who are supporting this resolution [on Iraq], and the unspoken Republicans who will be joining with us, that we somehow oppose the use of force is terrible history. It is wrong. In fact, the most recent entirely successful use of military force by the United States came from a Democratic President, Bill Clinton – he’s still alive, so don’t say good things about him – and supported by Democrats in Congress, and it was opposed by many of the Republicans, including many of the current Republican leadership…” February 16, 2007, U.S. House of Representatives.
The Vice President has violated a number of rules, maxims, constitutional provisions; but he has clearly violated one that I would have thought him wise enough and old enough to understand. No matter how difficult the situation in which your own misactions have
put you, and no matter what kind of a corner you have gotten yourself into, try to avoid saying something that no one will believe.
When the Vice President offered his justification for his refusal to follow the fundamental principle of openness, he made a statement that no one would believe. Apparently, in this case, even he didn't believe him, which was a new reach for him. He is now trying to take it back.
The gentleman from Ohio said to be careful what you wish for. Well, here is what I wish for, I would say to my friend from Ohio: a Vice President of the United States who will follow the law, who will not show contempt for the norms of a democracy.
Excerpt from Debate on Financial Services and General Government Appropriatsions Act of 2008 - House of Representatives, June 28, 2007
“The [metaphor that] the rising tide lifts all the boats has always been a problem. If you think about that analogy, the rising tide is a very good idea if you have a boat. But, if you are too poor to afford a boar and you are standing tiptoe in the water, the rising tide goes up your nose.” January, 2007, as reported in Brookline Magazine (June 2007 issue).
“I’d like to let the gay community have the right to get married, keep a job without being discriminated against, and be able to join the military.” March, 2007 Capitol Hill rally.
"When I hear some of my Republican colleagues leap to the defense of Section 8, I can only compare that to learning that Ahmadinejad had
applied for membership in B'nai Brith."
Remark on Section 8 housing program during debate on 2007 Continuing Appropriations bill (House of Representatives - January 31, 2007)
“In July, President Bush’s chief economic advisor Allan Hubbard said “obviously, it’s frustrating to us that the American people don’t recognize how well the economy is doing.” Mr. Hubbard would do better to ask the question, to paraphrase Chico Marx, “who are you doing to be believe, me or your own wallet?”
The truth is, the Bush administration is partly right. By some measures, the economy overall is doing well. Growth in GDP, aggregate national income, and productivity have all been strong since the end of the 2001 recession. The fundamental problem is that the vast majority of American workers have seen little to no benefit from the “strong” economy of the last five years.” Excerpt from “Dear Colleague” letter sent by Frank to all Members of the House on September 27, 2006.
“The Massachusetts Congressman and wit Barney Frank once quipped that he would understand what was meant by “Judeo-Christian” when he met one.”
(Divided by God: America’s Church-State Problem – And What We Should Do About It, by Noah Feldman, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005).
Comment of Rep. Frank at hearing of Financial Services Committee on accounting methods for stock options, as reported in the April 20, 2006 Bay Windows (Mr. Chairman by Kevin Sowyrda)
“What does treating stock options as a regular expense on the balance sheet have in common with same-sex marriage in Massachusetts,” Frank asked a suddenly speechless lobbyist giving testimony against the new accounting method. “In both cases,” said Frank, “a lot of people predicted chaos would erupt and nothing happened at all.”
CNN News – March 8, 2006, Lou Dobbs Tonight
Rep. Barney Frank [commenting on Bush Administration expressions of support for the government of the United Arab Emirates during the furor over the Dubai Ports deal]:
“The marching orders from this administration are very simple. People who own capital are to be allowed to do whatever they want. Capital is king. And the owners of capital are to be allowed to make whatever decisions they want with no hindrance
This is not even private capiral. It’s capital owned by a fairly repressive government. But the deference to the private capital runs this administration.”
Commenting on Inability of Republicans to Pass Serious Lobbying Reform Legislation (as reported in March 16, 2006 Roll Call, Mixed Review for Lobby Plan, by Tory Newmyer)
Rep. Barney Frank said Republicans are “choking.”
“I think they wish they hadn’t gotten into it, and they’re trying to get out of it with as little damage as possible,” he said.
On House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL)
“He does show the advantage of being boring – nobody yells at him.” (TIME Magazine, June 12, 2006, Notebook Section}
"Singling out one class of cases for the denial of attorney's fees when every other one gets them does seem to me an odd way to run a constitution." Comment of Congressman Frank in opposition to the Public Expression of Religion Act, a bill that would bar attorney's fees for successful plaintiffs in religious discrimination lawsuits that are brought under the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, as reported in the September 26, 2006 Boston Globe.
Excerpt from September 27, 2006 letter from Rep. Frank to his Congressional colleagues:
In July, President Bush's chief economic advisor Allan Hubbard said "obviously, it's frustrating to us that the American people don't recognize how well the economy is doing." Mr. Hubbard would do better to ask the question, to paraphrase Chico Marx, "who are you going to believe, me or your own wallet?"
The truth is, the Bush administration is partly right. By some measures, the economy overall is doing well. Growth in GDP, aggregate national income, and productivity have all been strong since the end of the 2001 recession. The fundamental problem is that the vast majority of American workers have seen little to no benefit from the "strong" economy of the last five years.
Statement of Congressman Frank as reported in the 9-27-2006 PBS Newshour regarding legislation that would allow the government to seize some terrorist suspects and hold them indefinitely.
"And it is a terrible thing to contemplate that this bill will allow people to be locked up indefinitely with no chance to prove that they were locked up in error. We should not do it."
Statement of Congressman Frank at the Capitol Hill Democratic Party economic forum that focused on the growing wage gap in American society, as reported on 9-22-2006 by Dow-Jones Newswires.
"We are seeing much more inequality through the distribution of newly created wealth than is necessary for efficiency or than is socially healthy."
Excerpt from September 24, 2006 House of Representatives debate on legislation, cosponsored by Frank, that would end the competitive advantage in federal contracting provided under current law to goods produced by prison labor, as reported by Congressional Quarterly. The bill passed the House on a vote of 362-57.
"How do you tell low-wage workers that they're going to lose their jobs because of prisoners?"
"The Massachusetts Congressman and wit Barney Frank once quipped that he would understand what was meant by "Judeo-Christian" when he met one."
(Divided by God: America,s Church-State Problem - And What We Should Do About It, by Noah Feldman, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005)
Commenting on the inability of Republicans to pass serious lobbying reform legislation (as reported in March 16, 2006 Roll Call, Mixed Review for Lobby Plan, by Tory Newmyer)
Rep. Barney Frank said Republicans are "choking."
"I think they wish they hadn,t gotten into it, and they,re trying to get out of it with as little damage as possible," he said.
Comment of Rep. Frank at a hearing of the Financial Services Committee on accounting methods for stock options, as reported in the April 20, 2006 Bay Windows (Mr. Chairman by Kevin Sowyrda)
"What does treating stock options as a regular expense on the balance sheet have in common with same-sex marriage in Massachusetts," Frank asked a suddenly speechless lobbyist giving testimony against the new accounting method. "In both cases," said Frank, "a lot of people predicted chaos would erupt and nothing happened at all."
FRANK CRITICIZES BUSH ADMINISTRATION "DEFERENCE TO CAPITAL"
CNN News - March 8, 2006, Lou Dobbs Tonight
Rep. Barney Frank [commenting on Bush Administration expressions of support for the government of the United Arab Emirates during the furor over the Dubai Ports deal]:
"The marching orders from this administration are very simple. People who own capital are to be allowed to do whatever they want. Capital is king. And the owners of capital are to be allowed to make whatever decisions they want with no hindrance
This is not even private capital. It,s capital owned by a fairly repressive government. But the deference to the private capital runs this administration."
New York Times, September 18, 2005 (Perspective Cold War Relic; All It Touched Off Was a Debate, by Fred Kaplan)
"The debate [on the MX Missile] took off full throttle and stayed there for a decade. It was an unusually technical, almost metaphysical debate, with each side drawing up charts and graphs displaying "deterrence gaps," "missile throw weight ratios," and "comparative hard-target-kill probabilities."
"Representative Barney Frank, Democrat from Massachusetts who was a leading MX opponent in those debates, recalled: "You showed your credentials by being able to talk about all this detail, but a lot of people - including Democrats - got sucked into it. They learned the lingo, but they forgot it had no relation to reality. It was like critics of 'The Three Stooges, debating the right way to squirt seltzer up your nose. They forgot that the whole thing was a little silly."
Mr. Frank and a growing number of skeptics asked: Was ICBM-vulnerability really a big problem?
"I don't like to waste words. And I think there is too much bloviating around from politicians. It seems to me that politicians ought to use the same words as other people."
-- Frank, Excerpt from "The No-[B.S.] Caucus" by Jeff Greenfield, Playboy, February, 2006
"Rather than the boy who cried wolf, George Bush is the reverse. He claims that there is nothing wrong when there is. He's the boy who cried, 'Nice doggie.'"
-- Frank, critiquing President Bush, whom he said has been unable to face the reality of the war in Iraq and the nation's economy
"He has docked the Massachusetts Republican party to the conservative national mother ship."
-- Frank, of the Massachusetts governor, who he referred to as "Newt Romney"
"While I have never read about a person about to be executed whom I will miss, I do not believe fallible people should do irrevocable things if there is any alternative"
-- Frank, on his opposition to the death penalty
"First of all, don't worry about the difference between generations. The truth is the truth and values are values, no matter how old you are. Also, get to know yourself. Get to know what you can do and what you can't do. You're never going to be successful in life constantly forcing yourself to do something you hate.
"You want to push yourself, but you don't want to push yourself off a cliff. So I would say, be who you have to be and then build on that. Get involved in some ways and try to help people."
-- Frank, when asked by a high school student for the best advice he can give to their generation
"My mother says that in the 59 years since being married to my father, no one had ever called her Elsie Fag."
-- Frank, in response to Texas Republican Dick Armey's claim that, his reference to Barney Frank as "Barney Fag" was a mere mispronunciation.
"Bush senior used to say we have more will than wallet. So he urged the country to attack poverty with a thousands points of light, none of which could be eaten."
"When you're engaged in a political fight, if you're doing something that really, really, really makes you feel good, then it's probably not the best tactic."
"One of the problems you have in politics is people don't ever want to disagree with their friends. Politicians get a lot of undeserved credit for standing up to their enemies. It's not only easy to stand up to your enemies; if you're a politician, it's generally profitable. The hardest thing to do is to stand up to your friends when you think they're wrong."
In 1984, during an all-night House Floor debate on school prayer, Rep. Marjorie Holt (R-MD) declared "this is a Christian nation." To which Frank, who was chairing the debate at the request of the House leadership, said "if this is a Christian nation, how come some poor Jew has to get up at 5:30 in the morning to preside over the House of Representatives?"
"I'm used to being in the minority. I'm a left-handed, gay Jew. I've never felt, automatically, a member of any majority."
With regard to anti-choice Republicans, who were advocating cuts in health care programs that benefited women and children, Frank commented "conservatives believe that from the standpoint of the federal government, life begins at conception and ends at birth."
In 1985, when the Reagan Administration reiterated its contention that the country could count on a rising tide to lift all boats, Frank was dubious, noting "if you don't own a boat and you are standing on tip toes in the water, a rising tide is not a cause for celebration."
Responding to the Reagan Administration's proposed cuts in programs for older Americans, Frank suggested "maybe what we can do...is arm the elderly. Maybe if we gave each one of them an M-16...we might persuade the White House to go ahead with the senior aid program."
When Frank supported raising the speed limit to 65 m.p.h. he told liberals who disagreed with him that he would "only listen to people on this issue who actually drive 55 m.p.h."