Barney Frank Mocks GOP: "Because Somebody Hurt Their Feelings, They Decide To Punish The Country"

So the Republicans are saying they lost the vote because Nancy Pelosi gave a speech that offended twelve of their members.

Well Barney Frank has an offer for them:

Give me those twelve people's names, and I will go talk uncharacteristically nicely to them, and tell them what wonderful people they are, and maybe they'll think about the country.

Here's video of the Republicans whining about Pelosi, and of Frank telling them to grow up:

Comments

[Whipsmart13]

In 2003, Frank opposed Bush administration and Congressional Republican efforts for the most significant regulatory overhaul in the housing finance industry since the savings and loan crisis. Under the plan a new agency would have been created within the Treasury Department to assume supervision of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored companies that are the two largest players in the mortgage lending industry. "These two entities, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not facing any kind of financial crisis," Frank said. He added, "The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."

[mabinog]

In 2003 the GOP had a majority in Congress, Bush in the WH and he was appointing SC Justices.

Just how did Frank do this?

How many Republicans voted against this regulatory overhaul you are talking about?

Was Frank dictator for a day when this bill came up for vote?

Unless you can answer those questions don't try to pass this crud off on us.

[optech007]

"In 2003 the GOP had a majority in Congress, Bush in the WH and he was appointing SC Justices."

Bush didn't make any Supreme Court appointments until 2005.

"How many Republicans voted against this regulatory overhaul you are talking about?"

None of them did because Democrats block the bill. Now I know you're going to say something like "How could they do that? They were the minority". So remember all the bills the Dems wanted to pass for the last two years and couldn't? It was because the minority Repubs blocked them just the Dems did with the Fannie and Freddie regulations.

Also, watch this although you probably won't enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs&eurl

[mike53]

Good old Blarney Frank. Just a few years ago he was saying how sound Fannie and Freddie were, along with other democrats. Blarney along with Countrywide Chris Dodd are two of the biggest culprits in this whole thing.

Democrats have had control of congress for two years, why no legislation to prevent this? Oh..wait I forgot. Republicans tried to do that three years ago when they had congress, democrats voted it down. Guess the campaign donations worked.

[butonelife]

Yeah, pal, just a few years ago Bushco was using Civil-War-era legislation to shut down all the states attorneys general who were trying to enforce laws against the predatory lending that led to this mess. Thirty years of Reflublican policy rolling back the regulations put in place by previous, smarter generations of Americans, twelve years of reflublican control of Congress, with so much corruption it's impossible to describe and a world-record for filibusters set last year. And you want to blame Mr. Frank. Truly pathetic, but very much in character. Greed/Catastrophe=Republican

[ObidenLvr]

I had no idea the republicans ruled the world. Are they all Freemasons too? God bless the holy democraps- fighting for the smallest [bank account] amongst us.

[Myshkin57]

Man, the Republicans are whiners. And Cantor is Palin in men's clothing. That guy is a dolt.

[swift goat pet for truth]

Yeah, but all the GOP pers think he's HOT!!

[AntonRobb]

You know what really grinds my gears? I'll tell you. Now we have to wait two more critical days for OUR servants in Congress to get back to work on the solution, whatever that may be? For what? Religious observance? Let me tell Congress something. Most REAL Americans work in jobs that don't give you all holidays off. All service industry jobs are open on holidays. Plus, they close shop in observance of things that not everyone believes are even true! AS PUBLIC SERVANTS, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS ARE OUR SERVANTS!! Do they give the waiters and cooks and bartenders and bus drivers and ER doctors and air traffic controllers and police and firemen and soldiers the day off for religious observance? Right. I say, if you want to be member of Congress for a living, being away from your families at holidays should be part of the bargain. The business of ALL the people is more important than the voodoo mysticism of each individual manifestation of religion. GEt to work you bastards!

[oneblackvote]

Go Nancy, you did the right thing. Tell them to their faces, how much they stink. The Republicans are a bunch of babies. All they think about is themselves, that's why we are in this mess, because of them. The Republicans hurt my feelings and my pocket book for deregulating The United States of America.

[mike53]

Its good that cable television shows have captions saying who is speaking. I can never tell Pelosi and Harry Reid apart.

[OutragedMom]

Juvenile and unhelpful......

[ObidenLvr]

Who were the 94 Democrats who voted against the bill thinking about?

[Truthosaurus]

I was just reading on MSN a primer on what the average citizen should consider regarding the "financial crisis". The economic advisor mentions that most banks should continue to function normally, and points out FDIC and related insurance already covers many funds. Mentions that credit cards and some loans may not be as easy to come by. About time! Many people shouldn't have been getting house or car loans - we would not be in this situation had there been greater restrictions. And maybe now I won't get three credit card offers a month asking me to sign up and take out home equity for a new big screen TV. The author also recommends some diversified investment into lower risk funds, because some stocks can hold risk. Really? You mean there is no guarantee that a stock will not continue to go up and up;) Finally the advisor mentions that people who continue to pay their mortgage on time will see little direct impact from the Wall Street crisis. But Bush says the sky is falling. And TV money man commenter Jim Cramer is bloviating. Stop and think about their constituents. Remember they want us to hand up to 700 million dollars to Paulson - ex CEO of Goldman Sachs who made a reported 140 million in compensation. Thank you Democrats and Republicans who put the brakes on this corporate welfare scheme.

[Truthosaurus]

Correction - 700 billion dollars to Paulson - ex CEO of Goldman Sachs.

[andyboy]

Great post. Our economy was based on lies for a decade. Of course markets are going to contract and some losses will be taken. But there is no Great Depression around the corner. It's only a crisis for bankers and investment and mortgage people who are responsible for all of this anyway. They cheated and stole in an orgy of greed. It's ugly. Too bad. Take your medicine America believe it or not it'll be good for you.

[mike53]

While I agree we probably won't reach the level of the 1930s, we still could see a substantial loss in our standard of living.

[Guynemer]

While we're ignoring the fact that 95 Democrats didn't vote for the bill, why don't we have Representative Frank explain to the public why he blocked Republican efforts to regulate Fannie Mae in 2005.

[Pquilson]

Good questions. Wonder why Barney Rubble did not mention either of those two things? Because he knows the answer to both, but thinks the dummies out here do not.

[andyboy]

Guynemer,

Because Barney Frank is a double agent. He's really a Republican. See how he's carrying Paulson's/Bush's water?

[optech007]

And 13 of them were on Frank's Financial Services Committee. If they voted yes the bill would have passed.

[FreedomCorpse]

When Armando Falcon, director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, issued a report warning on a systemic crisis in the housing markets in 2003, Bush fired him the next day.

Explain that one. Republicans are the uglier side of the two sided coin of totally corrupt government..

http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2003/3010ofheo_rpt.html

[Guynemer]

I'm not sure which blog you're on, but this one seems to be about Representative Frank making political hay of an economic crisis he specifically helped create. All through the Bush administration Frank continuously betrayed the public trust by defending the rotten institions of Fannie and Freddie even as he lined his pockets with political contributions from corporations he was tasked to oversee.

[duze]

Pelosi was on point as usual. She stated early on that a bipartisan vote would be needed. Now Frank, as one the main players finds it necessary to attempt to place the blame square on her shoulders. What about Paulson, Bernacke, Greenspan and George W? Seems to me there's plenty of blame to pass around. Everyone should just slow down, not be so quick to crown Paulson king. He should be the last one with the most responsibility towards a bailout. Wasn't most of this his fault.? Wasn't the oversite of the program his responsibility as treasury chief? If not it should be. The oversight board should be made up of civilians that have demonstrated themselves to be intelligent and knowledgeable in finance. The group should be led by Bloomberg, Buffett, Gates, and Clinton. No one and I mean no one including Paulson or his criminal associates should be allowed to touch any of the money without a through screening by this team.

[athenasword]

I think Nancy was clear that this needed to be fully bipartisan. And, I understand that there was a deal that this would have EQUAL support. W/ 60% the Dems held up their end of that deal.

[WebEngineer]

95 liberals wouldn't even vote for it... good thing that the GOP is here to take the blame. I am just glad that 95 democrats listened to the voters.

[BlackWidowPilot]

1) What makes you think all Dinocrats are "liberals?"

2) Whatever blame the GOP has laid on it, has probably been well and thoroughly earned these past eight years from Hell.

3) Speaking of "liberals," here's a perspective on this bailout you may actually appreciate, as it is coming from a well-and-thorough 'liberal" who pulls no punches:

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=235

Tar and feathers is too good for the fatcats of Wall Street ad K Street and their congressional and *presidential* enablers.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[bannorhill]

So the Republicans in the House stopped and did what Michael Moore asked. The Democrats ignored him and voted for the "robbery". How ironic.

[WebEngineer]

Hey BlackWidowPilot, Good post. I say tar and feather all the fatcats. I think wall street needs to be held accountable. There is enough blame to go around. Right now both parties are pointing at the other and we the taxpapers are left with the bill. I don't want my grandkids to pay for their mistakes.

[bannorhill]

I will bet that if Frank and Pelosi went on TV and said "We were wrong. If Bill Clinton had not deregulated and if we had passed McCain's Fannie Mae reforms we would not have these problems." Then at least 15 Republicans might change their votes.

[andyboy]

From the files of this could never happen but I'll write a blog about it anyway.

[Aleka4]

Oh sheesh.

You guys are really ridiculous. Country falling down around your ears and you STILL don't get it.

[bannorhill]

I do get it. We have a lame duck President and a Congress that was warned of the coming Fannie Mae failure in 2003. Nothing was done. When it hits the fan Pelosi leaves the Republicans out of the negotiations. She finally realizes nothing will pass without them and a bipartisan agreement is reached. Instead thanking them for their help Pelosi blames the Republicans for the problem.

Do you really expect someone to help you after you spit in their face?

[Happylib]

How is the weather in la-la land? Does the kool-aid taste better there? Pathetic ignorance on your part. You are intellectually dishonest and it shows.

[Pquilson]

Please elaborate instead of throwing out ad hominems. How is bannorhill intellectually dishonest?

[bannorhill]

Of course it won't happen. But when Pelosi started trying to fix the blame instead of the problem everything fell apart. No wonder nothing has been done by congress since she took over as speaker.

[jelly450]

Bill Clinton has not been the PRESIDENT for 8 years. This happened on Bush's watch when repugs controlled both the congress and the white house.

Stop making excuses for him and the republican party.

I for one am glad this did not pass, let's see what happens next

[bannorhill]

Even Bill Clinton admits he shares the blame for this. The deregulation rules were signed into law by Bill in 1999. In 2003 the Republicans warned of the Fannie Mae problems. In 2006 McCain introduced a bill to regulate Fannie Mae. The bill was killed by Democrats. Barney Frank told us there were no problems at Fannie Mae and the bill was not necessary. So he killed it.

[toosinbeymen]

Way to go, Barney Frank. I wish all Dems had as much spine as you do.

On the other hand, the bill was not good enough. We the people want to see OVERSIGHT and more OVERSIGHT and then some more OVERSIGHT. I want to feel comfortable that this disaster will not happen again with the Wall St fat cats collecting their commissions and bonuses.

Plus we want equity, a very good price or some thing that will virtually ensure that we the taxpayers don't lose money over the long term on this deal.

[Guynemer]

You want oversight? Frank was the chairman of the House Banking Committee. It was his job to provide oversight. Instead his campaign pocketed Fannie and Freddie contributions while he defending them against Republican attempts at regulation.

[TorontoNDP]

They didn't want regulation! They didn't want any impediments to free market mortgages! Don't try and rewrite history now that democratic socialism is suddenly in vogue.

[andyboy]

The only thing that would virtually ensure that the taxpayers don't lose any money is not to give them any in the first place.

Look at it like you are a bank and Wall St is asking for a $700 billion dollar loan.

You would laugh them out of your office.

The debt to income ratio alone is abysmal. There is no collateral my friend. Notta.

[DemocratVotingRepublican]

Geez - Barney Frank got us into this mess......

Do some research for cris'sakes!

From 2003:
''These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.''

[bannorhill]

He wants the bail out to cover his over sized fanny.

[mike53]

He was saying that as late as 2006.

[swift goat pet for truth]

Could we try doing something about the present problem before whi ning about 5 years ago?

[Pulemerci]

Didn't 90 Democrats vote nay for the bailout? Why blame the Republicans. The Democrats control the House and they couldn't get their own party members to vote for this? Nancy Pelosi is the weakest Speaker in history.

[AmandaRuth]

actually Nancy is pretty smart. She made it clear early on that this bill would be passed by votes from both parties or not at all, bipartisian. The dems delivered the promised yes votes, it is the republicans that backed down, because of "hurt" feelings no less. Very good strategy on Nancy's part.

[Aleka4]

I think so too.

It seems obvious to me the repubs never intended to vote for it, they lied and pretended they would to try to sucker dems into passing it alone, no doubt so they could then point fingers.

Absolutely disgusting. Country falling around their ears, people losing life's savings and REPUBLICANS ARE PLAYING GAMES.

Thank gawd Nancy was smart enough to see it, and now everyone is blaming republicans.

[swift goat pet for truth]

60% yes Dems.

33% yes GOP.

WHO was it asking for the bill? Dems or GOPpers? (Hint: What party is Bush and Paulson).

So, obviously, it was a Dem failure.

What a maroon.

[TorontoNDP]

It's HILARIOUS the right is running with this Pelosi speech, thinking it makes the Dems look bad! Uhh, so, someone speaks as a Democrat and you don't vote to prevent a trillion dollars from leaking out of the stock market and Main Street's pockets? And this makes the DEMS look bad? But even the usual sharpshooter Drudge missed the mark and is pushing this storyline! Push away! Do you think Americans won't notice what just happened? You think by the end of this week when the economy is on the brink because Congress didn't give Wall Street a golden bone, people will blame Pelosi's speech?

[DemocratVotingRepublican]

Anythings bound to happen - evidently a majority of people and the news missed this and forget history.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E3D6123BF932A2575AC0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2

''These two entities -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- are not facing any kind of financial crisis,'' said Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. ''The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing"

[BlackWidowPilot]

"Forget history?" Like the history of the past eight years from Hell under the Busheviks and their fellow GOP champions of deregulation?

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[swift goat pet for truth]

Instead of fixing the current problem, lets bring up one part of history, and forget about the inconvenient parts, like Phil Gramm.

Hey, good idea.

[doctorkeys]

Most Americans don't want this bill to pass. You can't save a pyramid scheme by pumping more money into it. Sooner or later it has to crash. We don't even have 700 billion dollars. The government is effectively bankrupt.

[Truthosaurus]

It will be an interesting evening - one clueless reporter was already on the radio breathlessly claiming that the deal will still be accomplished, because as she stated, the politicians "have to, they simply HAVE to". She must have had stock in Wachovia;) Now the Wall Street gamblers (that is essentially what it is now these days - legalized gambling) have voted with the Dow loss. Soon it will be a good time to buy. What goes up goes down and back up again. Already two major bank issues were resolved without need of this 700 billion dollar bailout - even though according to Bush the sky was falling. Hopefully the American people will continue to hold out for a sanity check and not get railroaded into this massive Bush/Pelosi corporate welfare scheme.

[johnwinner]

"Soon it will be a good time to buy. What goes up goes down and back up again." Both progressives and hard-line Republicans espouse this nonsense - how have the lessons of 1929 been so completely forgottent? We not directly involved in investments do not stand apart from them. the collapse of the stock market means the loss of homes, of jobs, of basic services and goods. While it is true that UNREGULATED a successful stock market will not necessarily secure these for us, a tanking stock market assures their loss.
Here's the basic principle, established by John Law, the inventor of modern investment economics, around 1720, and proved within a few years by the world's first stock market crash in France: modern wealth is an illusion created by overvaluing paper. If you demand real value from the paper, it disappears, if you devalue the paper to try to bring it to its most appropriate level, it loses all value.- because it has no "appropriate" level, it's all paper and illusion.
What is needed is to regulate the illusion before such demands are made of it. It is a shame that conservatives won't admit this, but it is shocking and disgusting that progressives don't.

[Truthosaurus]

We had what was labeled the biggest bank failure in history last week with Washington Mutual. And what happened - it was snapped up a few days later by JP Morgan Chase. Was there regulator involvement? Sure. But it was done without this 700 billion dollar bailout. And now Wachovia looks like it is going to be picked up by Citigroup without even having to go into receivership. Believe it or not, even in difficult situations, people still deal and want to make money. Did people who owned WaMu stock loose money - you bet. May Citigroup stock holders make money in the future if the merger pans out - you bet. The stock market is in many ways legalized gambling, these days with instruments that remove the reality of how well a firm does even farther from the investment. The "illusion" is that this party can continue on the backs of 700 billion dollars of taxpayer assumed debt. We do need actions by the politicians, but we need the right kind of actions, and that is not what we are getting from Bush and his Wall Street cronies - and shockingly those Dems who follow Bush in the rush to "do something".

[Ladyrantsalot]

Actually, Pelosi was right. This crisis was caused by a Republican philosophy emphasizing unfettered markets and deregulation. What those Republicans can't handle is the truth.

[DemocratVotingRepublican]

Here's a link for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs&eurl=http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/29/video-democrats-insist-nothing-wrong-at-fannie-mae-freddie-mac-in-2004/