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Barney Frank, Czar of His Domain
Townhall.com ^ | August 19, 2011 | John Ransom

Posted on 08/19/2011 4:41:19 AM PDT by Kaslin

Barney Frank (D-Fannie Mae) is king of the banking business.

He’s got the kind of clout that only money can buy. That’s why he was able to shield mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during his tenure as Chair of the House Banking Committee.

Being a House banking member has always had its rewards. While still a junior member on the House Banking Committee in 1991 he secured a big-time job at Fannie Mae for his then-husband. Or was it his wife? OK, let’s not go there.          

But Frank has definitely moved on to bigger things. His new husband is a surfer. Oops. I just went there.

He’s also now the author of a banking reform bill known as “Dodd-Frank,” which has the distinction of being some of the most costly legislation ever written.

How costly? We just don’t know yet. But besides the $3 billion that the legislation will cost to implement a story in the Atlantic, hardly a right-wing mouthpiece, estimates that the costs could approach $1 trillion.

Oh, and it also failed to address the “too-big-to-fail” syndrome that put the country’s real estate market in the mess it finds itself in… which was the point of Dodd-Frank to start with.

Gotta love the Democrats when they pass laws that don’t even attempt to solve the problems the laws were intended to address in the first place.  

If they solved problems then they wouldn’t get to write the outrage letters.    

Because Frank has written an outrage letter asking that the Federal Reserve hold up the merger of Capital One and ING.

Capitol One was the high bidder in the forced sale of ING’s banking division. The sale of the division was a condition of a European bailout of ING’s parent company.

A disappointed bidder in the deal was Obama favorite, GE Capital.

Capital One outbid rival GE to secure the coveted ING retail banking business that Capital One says will help reduce the amount of risk they have because it adds more direct banking and less credit risk. But still any suitor had to be willing to take on the additional mortgage risk in the ING portfolio, which apparently, Capital One was willing to do this while the other suitors, reportedly, were not.     

Frank and his liberal friends have a powerful reason to be outraged by the deal: GE donated $3.2 million to Democrats during the 2008 and 2010 election cycles, far more than they donated to the GOP.

“In a letter sent on Wednesday to Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Mr. Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, called on the Fed to hold public hearings to examine the possible deal’s impact on consumers and the economy,” writes the NYT’s Deal Book. “Mr. Frank also asked that the Fed grant the public at least two additional months to weigh in on the acquisition. The comment period is otherwise scheduled to end on Thursday.”

“This proposed purchase would create the fifth-largest bank in the United States,” said Mr. Frank, according to the Times article. “For this reason alone, care should be taken to thoroughly examine the impact of this purchase with respect to the consolidation of banking assets, the provision of credit by the resulting bank and compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act.”

The Times also cites a consumer advocate who opposes the deal: “We already have four too-big-to-fail banks, why make a fifth?” said John Taylor, president of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.

Why indeed? I thought at $3 billion to implement, Dodd-Frank was supposed to solve the too-big-to-fail problem.

At the same time Democrats are calling for the merger of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to marry the king and queen of too-big-to-fail into one uber-mortgage failure sponsored by the government and managed by Congress.

Democrats have powerful reasons for doing that deal, just as they have for holding up the merger of Capital One-ING. Fannie Mae gave Democrats over $1 million in contributions in the 2006-2008 election cycles.

And let’s face it: $4.2 million in contributions is way too big to fail.  


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Government; Politics/Elections; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS: 112th; fanniemae; frank; frreddiemac
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To: Elsie
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar: Sigmund Freud

Is that one of Slick Willie's cigars the Banking Queen is sucking on??

21 posted on 08/19/2011 5:12:17 AM PDT by CharlyFord (t)
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To: Kaslin

22 posted on 08/19/2011 5:18:38 AM PDT by Diogenesis (No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while the legislature is in session. - Mark Twain)
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To: CharlyFord

“This pervert has no self respect and none for tax payers. He’s totally corrupt.”

Well, he didn’t become chair of the banking committee due to previous business/financial training or economic expertise, since he lacks both. His corruption is his highest attribute in the political milieu he frequents.


23 posted on 08/19/2011 5:45:41 AM PDT by BlatherNaut
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To: CharlyFord
...then-husband. Or was it his wife?

Judging by the timbre of his flatulence, I would suspect that he is the catcher (wife) in the relationship.

24 posted on 08/19/2011 6:08:56 AM PDT by Aevery_Freeman (Obama - the Half-Black Plague)
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To: BlatherNaut
“This pervert has no self respect and none for tax payers. He’s totally corrupt.” Well, he didn’t become chair of the banking committee due to previous business/financial training or economic expertise, since he lacks both. His corruption is his highest attribute in the political milieu he frequents.

We have the people of Massachusetts to thank for him being in Congress. Kind of makes me think that Rick Perry is correct in wanting a nation separate from the New England States??

25 posted on 08/19/2011 6:14:47 AM PDT by CharlyFord (t)
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To: Aevery_Freeman
Judging by the timbre of his flatulence, I would suspect that he is the catcher (wife) in the relationship

From the reputations of his 'boyfriends', I say 'whore' is a better description than 'wife'.

26 posted on 08/19/2011 6:19:10 AM PDT by CharlyFord (t)
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To: CharlyFord

Butt-Slut...


27 posted on 08/19/2011 6:22:16 AM PDT by Aevery_Freeman (Obama - the Half-Black Plague)
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To: ROCKLOBSTER
No, Barney Frank is the Banking Queen.

Photobucket

28 posted on 08/19/2011 6:56:17 AM PDT by doc11355
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To: doc11355
No, Barney Frank is the Banking Queenr.
29 posted on 08/19/2011 7:05:32 AM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going)
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To: CharlyFord
Barney's district is an extreme example of gerrymandering.

His opponent in the last election won approximately 67% of the towns in the district, and came close in many others.

Three cities in the district pushed Barney over the top: Brookline, Newton and New Bedford (check out their demographics and you'll see why).

The rest of the district is completely under the boot of taxation without representation, and would love to see this freak defeated.

"In 1812, Governor Elbridge Gerry signed a bill into law, that established several oddly shaped Congressional districts in Massachusetts for the express purpose of benefiting his own Republican Party over the Federalist opposition. Today the tradition of Elbridge Gerry remains alive and well in Massachusetts."

http://www.examiner.com/worcester-county-nonpartisan-in-boston/gerrymandering-alive-and-well-its-birthplace

30 posted on 08/19/2011 7:11:33 AM PDT by BlatherNaut
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To: cc2k

WTF

What the F is going on?

I have absolutely no use for Obama nor his administration in it’s entirety.


31 posted on 08/19/2011 8:43:04 AM PDT by Venturer
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