The Bailout in Barney Frank Videos

I still have friends asking me about the major events of the bailout -- what happened, why did it matter? -- and it occurred to me that not everybody had been glued to CNBC throughout the crisis. About the same time, someone said to me that they loved, for whatever reason, listening to Barney Frank and that they'd love to have Barney Frank personally explain the crisis to them.

Well! Barney Frank to the rescue! I'll hand it over to the Congressman here. Be sure to catch the fourth video, which is the funniest.

The Fed flexes its muscles! Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke called Barney Frank into his office to talk about bailing out insurance giant AIG, which had been teetering on the verge of collapse. "I asked Mr. Bernanke if he had $85 billion to do that, he said he had $800 billion to do that." WATCH:

The government allows Lehman Brothers to fail! Barney Frank tells Charlie Rose that this was the single example of the Bush administration sticking to its professed commitment to free enterprise. "We have consequences that we have to deal with and there are often no good choices...." WATCH:

The White House sends a bailout bill to Congress! The debate begins -- will Congress reject it out of hand? Will they make changes? Will Democrats and Republicans be able to come together? "The president sent in a bill that was kind of a Dick Cheney wish list." WATCH:

The bailout vote fails in the House (and it turns out Barney Frank is very funny wokka wokka)! When Barney Frank was asked if Speaker Pelosi's harsh speech could have been the reason that not enough Republicans voted for the bill. "Give me those 12 people's names and I will go talk uncharacteristically nicely to them." WATCH:

The (second) revised bailout passes! "But now we have to perform more serious reform." WATCH:

Bonus: Barney Frank on the Factor! Bill O'Reilly screamed at Barney Frank and Barney Frank attempts to have a fact-based conversation. "Your stupidity gets in the way of rational discussion." WATCH:

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Comments

[WIpatriot]

I...just..­.can't...w­atch....

[Eidolas]

As though Barney Frank has ANY credibility on this issue.

It was reported today that nineteen banks taking taxpayer money from the Treasury Department have spent $32.4 million lobbying the federal government during the first nine months of this year, according to lobbying disclosure reports.

Both the chair of the House and Senate Banking Committees are and have been Democrats yet they blame the current administration for the banking problem. Were they too busy lining their own pockets with lobbyist dollars while turning a blind eye! Only 1 member took less than $1,000,000 in lobbyist money this year. There is more than enough blame to go around and you only have to look at BOTH sides of the aisle to see the problem.

[JulieSA]

Yes. Here's the icing on the cake:

"Unqualified home buyers were not the only ones who benefitted from Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank’s efforts to deregulate Fannie Mae throughout the 1990s.

So did Frank’s partner, a Fannie Mae executive at the forefront of the agency’s push to relax lending restrictions.

Now that Fannie Mae is at the epicenter of a financial meltdown that threatens the U.S. economy, some are raising new questions about Frank's relationship with Herb Moses, who was Fannie’s assistant director for product initiatives. Moses worked at the government­-sponsored enterprise from 1991 to 1998, while Frank was on the House Banking Committee, which had jurisdiction over Fannie."

Astonishing that this guy is allowed to any say at all in these matters, much less chair the committee. I hope Obama will CHANGE this situation.

[ObjectiveRealist]

Citations needed.

[IntrepidReader]

As late as 2006, Barney Frank was insisting that there was NO need for regulation or oversight, that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were doing just fine. He's the last person I'd listen to about this situation, he was at the forefront of causing this whole mess. It's so typical of politicians today that he's now trying to score points by being against the things he helped to create.

[enochsmoky]

Barney Frank should be thrown out of the House of Representives for his lack of oversight in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac scandals. This was a Democratic scandal from day one. Banks were required to loan money to substandard borrowers and the banks lowered their lending standards to oblige their political masters. This was not a failure of deregulation, it was a failure of a program that was set up to aid marginal borrowers and the banks fulfilled the objectives of the program with a vengeance. This whole financial crisis will be a case study in a few years on how to create and nourish a crisis and then blame it on your political opponents.