Bill O'Reilly, Barney Frank Face Off On Detainee Abuse Photos, Health Care Reform, Housing Crisis (VIDEO)

Congressman Barney Frank and Bill O'Reilly squared off again on "The O'Reilly Factor" and discussed a wide range of issues, including President Obama's decision to not release photos showing the US torturing Guantanamo detainees, how to pay for the very large price tag of health care reform that would include a public plan, and their old favorite topic: who is to blame for the housing crisis and letting Fannie Mae and Fannie Mac become so bloated with bad subprime loans.

I say discuss because this lengthy interview was remarkably more tempered than their previous exchange in which they faced off over the two housing giants, and by faced off I mean yelled at each other. Sure, O'Reilly interrupted Frank several times and the Congressman indignantly insisted that O'Reilly stop talking over him, but it was fairly civil, and thus far more substantive. The two even managed to agree on a couple things. For example, they both favor cutting parts of the military budget (Frank in order to pay for health care; it's unclear if O'Reilly supported it for that reason as well).

Watch the (slightly) heated exchange below.

Part 1 Part 2

Comments

[talkitreal]

Bill O"Rielly is such a mental light-weight, a total pompous as*! I have no doubt he finihed last in his class!

Barney Frank is a hero of the Senate - he is smart, really knows his stuff, and you can count on him to be prepared, honest, and to NEVER take any mess from anyone!

[Raco]

Barney got elected to the Senate? Now that's big news

[John Horner]

Surprisingly civil. O'Reilly misses the point that our out of control total health care costs in this country is part of our competitive disadvantage. The US spends nearly twice as much per person on health care as do other modern industrialized countries.

[Bettysdad]

A sane person going on Fox only gives them credibility.

Fox viewers can't think, so they won't be swayed.

[PuddyKatz]

I prefer Neil Patrick Harris as the face of gay America!

[tom90069]

bill'o the clown quotes the wall street journal; but its not the part of the paper that does journalism, its the op ed part that's run by his boss.

[Wake-up]

Please... Mr. O doesn't need to answer to anyone... he's a rock star with those ratings.

He's a traditionalist sort of guy which obviously throws you of balance.

[RobinLandseadel]

He's a graduate student of the Joe Pine school of verbal abuse. He's the kind of guy who gives conservatives a bad name.

[bingvangorden]

If people are given the choice between a fat greasy cheese burger or a healthy salad they will pick the cheeseburger almost everytime. Just because it's popular doesn't mean it's good for you or magically make it healthy to eat. "O" may rake in millions, all kinds of bad people make money, it's not an automatic virtue or real indicator of legitimacy. He's a cheeseburger dude, with bacon and cheddar, probably mayonnaise too. He's telling you what you want to hear but he's wrong a great deal of the time.

[pissedmichael]

I believe Barney Frank has the interests of his constituents at heart. However, he is not the ideal spokesperson for anyone. He tends to repeat himself, turns defensive, and belabors points he doesn't really need to elaborate on. I'm glad he's unafraid to face down O'Reilly, but he's not 'considered' enough. I found this interview not impossible to follow, but difficult nonetheless--both of them tend to say a whole lot of nothing. Makes it impossible to draw a logical conclusion from any of it.

[blueskybigstar]

I think liberals are half of his audience, just to see what he is saying. They should stop watching and write letters to his sponsors, telling them that you will not be using any of their services or products.

[hauty007]

Congress, STOP spending.
can't spend, what you don't have.

The United States has been hijacked....... why is DC NOT standing up for what's right for our Country?

[marylandtravelinman]

Becasuse if the governement stops spending then NO ONE is buying anything. Have you heard of the Depression. What you are proposing is exactly what caused the Depression, unless that is what you want, is it? Probably.

[Monty22]

Hey maryland, I'm not sure I see your logic. The only money the gov't has, it ultimately gets from us. They can borrow all kinds of money, but we pay it back. So when people seeing the gov't spending their money, trying to raise taxes through cap and trade which will raise the cost of living across the board, and spending the money they haven't even earned yet via these loans, the impulse is to stop spending and save in order to brace for what's ahead. However if every business knew it was about to enjoy a massive tax cut, that's real motivation to start hiring and spending for the purpose of making even more profit in the future. And as the economy improves and people no longer feel they need to brace for some impending nightmare, they spend more too.

I don't think it's constructive to say that people who have a different understanding of how free markets work want us to go into a depression. The only people who might conceivably have that aim are those who are using this "crisis" to get all kinds of unrelated legislation passed. Remember Ayers said, "A crisis is a terrible thing to waste."

[Jonathan Perkins]

NOW it's a problem.
When Reagan did it, it was no great.
When GW Bush discarded the Clinton budget surplus--no worries.
When Obama spends money, it's irresponsible.

Clearly, wars are a better investment than are health care, infrastructure, and jobs.

[Wake-up]

Dude... it's times 2 in a matter of months... add the Energy Bill (misnomer) and the Health Care thing and you're looking at times 4.

Wars are better investments when they are Moral like the two we're wrapping up now...

[bingvangorden]

In one word? Capitalism.

[John Horner]

Sounds good. Lets start rolling up the foreign bases and bring our military men and women home where they can actually be part of the Department of Defense. Either that, or at least change the name back to its original form, the Department of War. Our measly little 5% of the world's population cannot forever afford to have large military bases in every part of the world. Once the US military goes into a place, it almost never leaves.

[ladyvader]

That is the biggest problem. Do we really need to keep troops in Germany? Or Japan or any other country we can't get out of.

[Wayne1ea]

I have to hand it to Mr. Frank for agreeing to go on O'Lielys show again.

And Just for the record there may be two sides to a story but there is only one truth. FOX does a good job of muddying the waters of truth. And all for that o mighty dollar.

[Wake-up]

Really?

Where's the other side of the story on an MSNBC News Commentary show like this one? Oh, wait, no-one watches those...

[chronic]

Wake-up, but your brain is d-e-a-d.

[sizogee]

Rachel Maddow has plenty of conservatives on. And she doesn't yell at them. Schultz has some on, and occasionally yells at them. Olbermann rarely has conservatives on, but he's civil when he does. Much more than can be said about the ilk of Fox News.

And you probably think Matthews is a raging liberal, but his show is 50% conservatives.

Look, if you're going to pick an argument make sure it's at least something remotely true.

[Elmomex]

Only reason more people watch O'Reilly is because they are waiting for the next shouting match and the next confrontation to entertain them - same reason they were drawn to Jerry Springer. These same people find the civility on Maddow and KO's show too boring.

[blukazoo]

I can't comment because I refuse to listen to or watch O'liarly. I'm sure my eyes will burst and my ears will bleed...

[Wake-up]

O'liarly... oh u mean O'Reilly?!!

This is the problem... those who want to just hide in the comfortable cocoon and feel good. I hope you don't vote... we all need 2 or more sides to each situation and then decide... this kind of thinking is what keep loser politicians in office.

Wake-up!

[Imhotep40]

Yeah, I guess you can say Jr's mean & nasty is a "side" . . . .

Condoning the killing of abortionists, filing a preemptive lawsuit for extortion to discourage a sexual harassment charge, distorting facts and using misleading or erroneous statistics . . . .

yeah, you could call that a "side", an irrelevant "side", but a "side" non-the-less . . . .

Going back to sleep (at least during the "O'liarly" Factor), wouldn't want to "Wake-up!" and be compelled to vote for Sarah Palin (or her ilk) by something Jr. said.

[LADY2CNTX]

The "LOSER" left office on January 21, 2009 @ 11:59 am. Thank the LAWD!

[Hilodave]

your avitar says it all......and you think O'reilly presents two sides?

[bingvangorden]

Go to sleep!
O'Reilly lies. It's that simple. I don't respect his opinion because he doesn't base it in facts. He simply demeans and tears down his enemies. He lies to you so why waste your time? It's not about a difference of opinion it's about a lack of credibility. If you take him seriously you aren't getting enough information. Any amount of research proves him a liar. There's a reason he yells at his guests he disagrees with, they are presenting facts he can't refute so resorts to what bullies do.

[Kelly Laraia]

At least they we both well behaved. Why does Barney Frank always looks so grouchy? C'mon Barney, lighten up and smile.

[Badfickle]

I'm not sure he's capable of smiling. And I know he doesn't like Bill but what was with his fingernails?

[LADY2CNTX]

Barney Frank had me cracking up. He was doing his nails and looking so UNCONCERNED while Bill O'Liar was trying to start a screaming match with Barney.

[eden4barack08]

I LOVE Barney Frank!!!

[expired]

Dear MoveOn member,
Health care reform is in trouble in the Senate.

Conservatives in Congress, including some Democrats, are trying to kill Obama's public health insurance option not by opposing it outright, but by pushing weak half-measures and calling them "public plans."1 The latest is a proposal for small, regional "co-ops" that would have no chance of competing against insurance companies to bring costs down.2

If we act immediately, we have a good shot at defeating ploys like the "co-op." The key is to make it clear that we support a strong public health insurance option and lay out exactly what that means.

A truly public plan: To ensure it's held to the highest standards of accountability, a public health insurance option must be truly publicly run—accountable and transparent to Congress and to voters.
If thousands

[huffpostuser77]

I watched the whole thing and thought it was more civil than usual.

[maryam19]

i actually thought Barney made good sense in his responses ......... its amazing how things are so distorted until a person has the chance tho explain in detail what the opposition has twisted ......