Free Republic

During an interview with CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) discussed everything from the Trayvon Martin shooting, to gay marriage, to his upcoming retirement. And while none of these are surprising for this congressman to talk about, the eye-opening moment occurred when he said (with a straight face) that president Obama has helped “turn around the mess of the economy.” Really? “When you look at the election, you look at the campaign season here,” Malveaux said, “What do you think President Obama has done right, that he’s gotten right? And what do you think he really needs to work...

NEWTON, Mass. (WHDH) -- Democratic Representative Barney Frank raised eyebrows during his commencement speech at UMass Dartmouth when he referenced the Trayvon Martin case. Barney Frank, never at a loss for words, drew gasps from the commencement crowd at UMass Dartmouth where his good friend Hubie Jones was awarded an honorary doctorate -- complete with a degree and hood. "When they give you an honorary doctorate they give you one of these and Hubie, I think you now got a hoodie you can wear and no one will shoot at you," Frank said during his speech. The crowd was stunned...

Barney Frank Makes Awkward Trayvon Martin ‘Hoodie’ Joke During Commmencement Barney Frank, the retiring Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, never known to speak anything but his mind, used his address to graduating seniors at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth Sunday to make a cringe-inducing joke about hoodies. “I do want to acknowledge a man who has played a major role in diminishing inequality in Massachusetts,” said Frank, referring to the activist Hubie Jones. “He’s a great man and I’ve worked with Hubie for many years. You know he got an honorary degree today. You know when you get an honorary...

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was one of several speakers at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth undergraduate commencement that took place this Sunday. Frank was also one of two people that received the Chancellor's Distinguished Service Medal at the event. However, Congressman Frank made a controversial comment about Hubie Jones, a black recipient of an honorary doctorate, that elicited an audible gasp from the audience. In reference to the Trayvon Martin case, Frank said "you now got a hoodie you can wear and no one will shoot at you." After the audience reacted, Frank said, "I think you'll feel, I hope,...

I just finished reading Brian Sullivan’s Reform battles rollback as Romney pledges to repeal Obama's financial regulations regarding the differences between Romney and Obama on the financial services regulations known as Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley. Sullivan’s piece is mostly what you would expect from a mainstream media outlet. It’s a topical check list of “On the one hand Romney wants, on the other hand Obama says…” that is just a series of campaign infomercials disguised as balanced analysis. (Please see my personal plea at the end of this article for USA Cares this Memorial Day- and please... give generously)     And it illustrates what’s really...

While speaking to Harvard Graduates this week Barney Frank took time to hammer a woman who challenged him at a town hall two years ago over his ideology. He then went on to explain that legislation he was promoting would not prevent pastors from speaking their views at the pulpit. "You can still call me a fag," Frank said and cited that at the time he was chair of the Finance Committee so he "wouldn't advise it if you were in the banking industry."

Rep. Barney Frank is poised to become the first member of Congress in history to be in a same-sex marriage soon, and while his party, particularly in his home state of Massachusetts, had much to do with the rights of same-sex couples to marry, the chief executive of the Democrats (and the nation) is not invited. The reason, Rep. Frank told C-SPAN? “It would ruin the party to have the Secret Service.” Rep. Frank had no ill words for the President, but made clear when asked on C-SPAN this weekend that he was not amenable to doing anything that would...

Obama not invited when Rep. Frank marries longtime partnerBy Alicia M. Cohn - 05/18/12 05:04 PM ET Although Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) earlier this month said he is “pleased” with President Obama’s decision to publicly support same-sex marriage, in a new interview the congressman revealed the president will not be on the guest list when Frank marries his longtime partner this summer. “If he and Michelle wanted to come, I would be delighted and honored to have him, but he will bring the Secret Service,” Frank said in an interview that will air Sunday as part of C-SPAN’s “Newsmaker” series....

The American Enterprise Institute’s Peter Wallison on how government, not greed, was the essential ingredient in the 2008 meltdown. In January 2011, a bipartisan, 10-member, government-created body called the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) issued a comprehensive report assigning blame for the 2008 financial meltdown. The main culprits: “widespread failures in financial regulation and supervision,” “dramatic failures of corporate governance and risk management at many systemically important financial institutions,” “a combination of excessive borrowing, risky investments, and lack of transparency,” a government that “was ill prepared for the crisis,” and “a systemic breakdown in accountability and ethics.” The four Republicans...

On this weekend’s broadcast of ABC’s “This Week with George Stephanopoulos,” outgoing Democratic Rep. Barney Frank locked horns with Tennessee Republican Rep. Marsha Blackburn, who wanted to focus on economic issues instead of gay marriage. Frank, an openly gay member of Congress, claimed that Blackburn was relying too heavily on talking points. Blackburn objected to Frank’s assertion, but then Frank lashed out at Blackburn and host George Stephanopoulos.

Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said he advised President Obama against taking up health care reform following a special election in 2010 that changed Democrats' fortunes in the Senate, saying that he should have instead turned his focus to financial reform. Frank referenced former President Bill Clinton and his failed health care plan from the 1990s. “Obama made the same mistake Clinton made,” Frank said in a wide-ranging interview with New York magazine. “When you try to extend health care to people who don’t have it, people who have it and are on the whole satisfied with it get nervous.” The...

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) thought President Obama was making a "mistake" in pressing for healthcare reform in 2010 and urged the White House to back off after Democrats lost their 60-seat majority in the Senate, the congressman tells New York magazine. "I think we paid a terrible price for healthcare," Frank told the magazine in a lengthy interview as he prepares to retire at the end of his 16th term. "I would not have pushed it as hard. As a matter of fact, after [Sen.] Scott Brown [R-Mass.] won [in January 2010], I suggested going back. I would have started...

It's random, I know...but here's what I think one of the families would look like...

BOSTON — Joseph Kennedy III is formally jumping into the race for the Massachusetts congressional seat now held by retiring U.S. Rep. Barney Frank. A member of the campaign who requested anonymity so as not to preempt the candidate’s announcement tells The Associated Press the Democrat is expected to make the announcement Thursday. Kennedy recently moved from Cambridge to Brookline, part of the state’s newly redrawn 4th Congressional District. Kennedy is the son of former U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy II and a grandson of the late Robert F. Kennedy. The family has deep ties to the Boston suburb. Kennedy announced...

What — did you think that because he is retiring from Congress you wouldn’t have to hear about him ever again? Very sorry to bring him up, but here’s a shameless bit of salacious gossip for y’all: Engaged: Barney Frank, 71, and longtime partner Jim Ready, 42, the congressman’s office confirmed for us Thursday, following a report by New England Cable News. Where? In Massachusetts, where gay nuptials were made legal in 2004. When? Sorry, that’s all the details they’d give. Frank is set to leave Congress next winter after 32 years, and he’s said the rigors of the job...

It's been a busy month for Joseph Kennedy III. The son of former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II and grandson of the late Robert F. Kennedy is engaged to be married to Lauren Anne Birchfield, a fellow Harvard Law School graduate. The announcement comes a little more than a week after the 31-year-old Kennedy formed an exploratory committee as a first step toward a run for the U.S. House seat held by retiring Rep. Barney Frank.

  Happy New Year!We were so busy in 2011 that it seems like a blur that flew by.  At a time when the mainstream media keeps pushing the notion that the Tea Party is losing its influence, I think that it is important to look back on all that you and I accomplished in 2011.  We can be very proud of all that we have done and use it as motivation to fight for Tea Party values in 2012.  Here are some of the highlights of 2011:Organized the first Tea Party response, by Michele Bachmann, to the State of...

President Barack Obama says he won't take "no" as an answer from Republicans, so he's going around them to appoint the head of a new consumer protection agency. Obama says Republicans would just keep holding Richard Cordray's nomination hostage—and the president says that's inexcusable and wrong. He says Cordray must be in place in order for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to start helping consumers deal with unscrupulous mortgage companies, dishonest payday lenders, and others. Obama announced the appointment of Cordray during a stop Wednesday in Ohio, where Cordray once served as attorney general. Republicans are outraged but Obama says...

It was recently observed that Ron Paul was to the left of Obama on national security and the best evidence for that statement can be found when one year ago Ron Paul joined forces with Barney Frank​ on a proposal to gut national defense via a panel of experts, quite a few of whom were tied to George Soros​. In July 2010, Barney Frank and Ron Paul co-authored a Huffington Post article rolling out their Sustainable Defense Task Force. The Task Force “consisting of experts on military expenditures that span the ideological spectrum” would recommend a trillion dollars in defense...

Just what Congress needs, a new Kennedy. Don’t underestimate the sheeple mentality here in Mass, especially in Fwank’s ultra-liberal district. They have no problem voting for someone based solely on his last name. (FOX 25/MyFoxBoston.com) — There is new speculation that Joseph P. Kennedy III is ready to run for Congress. Sources close to Kennedy have told Rhode Island Public Radio that the 31-year-old son of former Congressman Joe Kennedy is setting up fundraisers and taking a serous look at running for the seat left open by the retirement of Barney Frank. The younger Kennedy is a Harvard Law School...

A little holiday silliness... :-)

Top 10 Barney Frank Offenses by Human Events 12/03/2011 Rep. Barney Frank (D.-Mass.) has announced that he will not run for reelection, giving conservatives an early Christmas present.  Let’s look back on his more than 30 years in office and give thanks that the liberal lawmaker will soon be returning home.  Here are the Top 10 Barney Frank Offenses. 1.  Fannie and Freddie:  As ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, Frank blocked tightened oversight over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying in 2003, “These two entities … are not facing any kind of financial crisis,� and, “I want...

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who announced earlier this year that he would not seek re-election in 2012, appeared on the House floor Wednesday in a t-shirt, jacket and with his left arm in a sling, but explained to members of the House that his injuries were minor. "I deeply appreciate the solicitude of my colleagues on my appearance," he said. "I want to first assure them that there is much less here than meets the eye." Frank said he wanted to explain it once to all members of the House so he would not have to repeat it, since "responding...

Via Mediaite. I don’t want to blog it, I have to blog it. If only as catharsis: Having now seen this, the only thing that can ease my suffering is making you suffer with me.It might not have been so bad if not for the nipples. The terrible, terrible nipples. Worthy of a reprimand? Dress Code: Members should dress appropriately which has traditionally been considered to include a coat and tie for male Members and appropriate attire for female Members. Members should not wear overcoats or hats on the Floor while the House is in session. There is no eating,...

<p>Outgoing Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was on the House floor late Monday afternoon wearing a t-shirt and a sling due to a recent operation on his thumb.</p> <p>Frank was wearing a revealing shirt, one which you could see through that exposed what his bare chest looks like.</p>

Rep. Barney Frank is predicting that President Obama would easily win a general election against Newt Gingrich, but stopped short of guaranteeing that Obama would eclipse his 2008 victory. The retiring Massachusetts Democrat recently said that a Gingrich nomination “would be the best thing to happen to the Democrats since Barry Goldwater.” Asked for a prediction on electoral votes, Frank this week told The Hill, “The thing is [Gingrich] could carry most of the South.” He said Obama's count would be “in the 300s” against the Georgia Republican. To win the White House, 270 electoral votes are needed. Obama won...

Howie Carr Show thread for the week starting with his Sunday Boston Herald column, "How ‘brainy’ Frank got Barney-mandered"

In 2010, Republican Sean Bielat gave Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank the toughest re-election challenge the Democrat had ever experienced. Although Bielat’s insurgent Tea Party-backed campaign fell short of unseating Frank, it was obviously a factor in the 16-term congressman’s decision this week to retire at the end of his current term, rather than seek re-election in a newly redrawn district. Thursday night, Bielat spoke to me in a brief telephone interview.Robert Stacy McCain: So, this is the week of ‘Bye Bye Barney.’ How are you feeling right now? Sean Bielat: [Laughs.] Well, you know, if you would have asked me...

Barney Frank's legacy will not include the prostitution ring that took place at his Washington D.C. townhouse in 1989, without his knowing, according to Barney. He was reprimanded by the House of Representatives in 1990, but Massachusetts, the home of American witchcraft, reelected him - too many times. Barney Frank's legacy will not be that he was the first "Out" gay to become part of the United States Congress. Frank will also not be known, either as the brother of Clinton wonk Ann Lewis, nor for his stammering and stuttering. He will also not be famed for the excessive regulation...

This week we also learned more about the underhanded and undemocratic ways in which the Federal Reserve saved big banks last time around. (You should read Ron Suskind’s book, “Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President.” To understand Mr. Geithner’s philosophy of unconditional bailouts, remember that he was president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York before becoming Treasury secretary.) Is there really no alternative to pouring good money after bad? (snip) The goal is simple, as Mr. Huntsman said in his recent Wall Street Journal opinion piece: make the banks small enough and simple...

In an interview with Wolf Blitzer, Herman Cain said a new accuser would be coming forward to accuse him of having a 13-year affair with him. No links yet as the story is currently breaking and details are still being released. Apparentally a Georgia TV station has the exclusive.

DreamWorks Studios announced today that they are in the final stages of salary negotiations with Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank for their new Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny movie. Frank is slated to play Elmer Fudd in the five hundred million dollar, two part, six hour movie epic. The Congressman expressed interest in the role when he heard that Bugs Bunny was going to be played by an actor who has expressed conservative political views in the past. We talked with Congressman Frank over brunch in the West Village where he was visiting a friend. “It was wight before our summer wecess,”...

Middlesex prosecutor Joseph P. Kennedy III — widely seen as the best hope to carry the torch of the legendary family dynasty to a new generation — told the Herald last night he is leaving the door open to a run for Congress. “I just haven’t had the time to give it any thought, the type of careful consideration that it requires,” Kennedy said outside Cambridge District Court. “I’ve always thought politics is an honorable profession. It demands that you give it careful thought before you jump into it. When I get the time to do that, I’ll think about...

BOSTON (AP) -- Rep. Barney Frank's decision to step down at the end of his term is the latest jolt to the bruised ego of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, which once counted Kennedys, House speakers and a president among its ranks. Instead, some of the state's best-known political figures are now Republicans, among them Sen. Scott Brown and presidential candidate Mitt Romney. "For a long time, Massachusetts Democrats have felt they played a special role in the national Democratic Party," said Tufts University political science professor Jeffrey Berry. "I think that has gone at this point. There is no one...

It was because he was going to retire anyway, lost a favorite port town in redistricting and had a tough race last time. Was this really why Congressman Barney Frank announced today he’s retiring from the House of Representatives? Perhaps another reason was he’s no longer chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and like a lot of bullies, Mr. Frank found it’s not easy to be stripped of the power to torment and humiliate others.

So Elmer Fudd Barney Frank announced yesterday that he would not be running for re-election in 2012. His stated reason was that his district was gerrymandered, which is true. But Frank was no longer safe in a safe-district. Remember it took a last-minute infusion of DNCC money to save Barney Frank in 2010 and even then, his 54% of the vote was the lowest he had ever received since his first election in 1980. Frank is retiring because he is chicken, he almost lost last time, and doesn’t have the guts to try again. In his 31+ years in the...

Cranky liberal standard-bearer U.S. Rep. Barney Frank’s bombshell retirement announcement sent shock waves rippling through the Bay State and set the stage for an epic national clash as Democrats and Republicans prepare to do battle over a seat that until yesterday seemed staunchly and securely blue, observers said. “It will be a fun race to watch — at least fun from a distance,” said U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano (D-Somerville), who said Democrats are launching a major push to recapture the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. “It’s not the only race in the country that both sides will be...

Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank announced on Tuesday his support for the repeal of the Independent Payment Advisory Board, a significant portion of President Obama’s health care overhaul. Frank, who announced Monday that he would retire at the end of his current term in office, became the 12th Democrat, and the 212th member of the House, to co-sponsor Tennessee Republican Rep. Phil Roe’s bill aimed at repealing the IPAB. Frank is the most prominent Democrat to join Roe’s bipartisan repeal effort. IPAB is a 15-member board, appointed by the president, scheduled to convene in 2014. In order to reduce per...

Rep. Barney Frank will be remembered for three things: First, he was not only the first openly gay member of Congress but the first involved in a gay-prostitution scandal. Second, he said, “I do not want the same kind of focus on safety and soundness” regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as exercised with regard to other government-affiliated agencies, preferring, as he memorably put it, to “roll the dice a little bit.” Third, he was co-author of the Frank-Dodd financial-reform legislation. Which is to say, Representative Frank will be remembered as an embarrassment, a reckless gambler, and a legislative malefactor....

Oh, that lovable rascal, Barney Frank! He may have been opinionated (and boy did he let you know what he felt!) but he was always looking for a way to solve problems. We need more people like him in Washington.That's the official liberal mainstream media line on the retiring congressman from Massachusetts, and it tells us more about the media than about Barney Frank. The encomia to the man pour forth from admiring reporters from the New York Times to the Washington Post to Slate. They almost all ignore entirely Frank's role in subsidizing the housing bubble, his coziness with...

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was never known for holding his fire, and in a press conference announcing his retirement the liberal lawmaker saved some of his most memorable barbs for former House speaker and now presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. “I did not think I lived a good enough life to see Newt Gingrich as the Republican nominee,” the 30-year House veteran said. “He would be the best thing to happen to Democrats since Barry Goldwater ... It’s still unlikely, but I have hopes.” The pair have been snapping at each other since the 1980s, when Gingrich was rising to power...

The Tennessee Tea Party is speaking out about Representative Frank tonight and their view is sparking some controversy. After hearing he's retiring, the Tennessee Tea Party tweeted "Good riddance, you perverted sodomite POS!!!" "I am appalled," says the Tea Party Nation's Judson Phillips. "This statement does nothing to advance the goals of the Tea Party movement and goes a long way towards offending people we need to be involved. Barney Frank is the worst congressman in the last century, but dumb comments like that tweet do not help our cause." A spokesperson with the Tennessee Tea Party told FOX17 NEWS...

A somewhat bitter U.S. Rep. Barney Frank said today he will not seek re-election in 2012 in a move he said was triggered by redistricting that left him with too many new constituents to serve as a “lame-duck” legislator. “There are too many constraints,” Frank said about his life as a politician and the energy it would take to meet new voters so late in his tenure. “People are skeptical about incumbents,” he added. “There was also this — I don’t like raising money.”

AND NOW . . . amidst billowing clouds of fragrant, aromatic first- and second-hand premium cigar smoke. . . it is time for . . . that harmless, lovable little fuzz ball, the highly-trained broadcast specialist, having more fun than a human being should be allowed to have, from behind the golden EIB microphone, firmly ensconced in the prestigious Attila-the-Hun chair at the Limbaugh Institute of Advanced Conservative Studies, serving humanity simply by showing up, and he’s not retiring until every American agrees with him, do NOT doubt him, with shrieks of joy at the mere mention of his name...

To celebrate the decision by this disgusting human being the not run again, let's celebrate in song. He and Maxine and others in the Black Caucus are the ones responsible for the collapse. Thanks, Bill Clinton, for your plan to make sure those who should be renters would get into homes with little or no down, no qualifying, no documentation. SING-ALONG = DANCE OF THE SUGAR PLUM FAERIE

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: So Barney Frank is retiring from Congress. He's not going to seek reelection. He's gonna announce it in less than an hour -- well, he's announced it. He's gonna tell us why in less than an hour. I've been looking into this, and the basic reason, well, it's partly to spend more time with the family. (laughing) What family? I don't know, folks. Figure it out. It's a redistricting thing. His district has been rewritten in such a way that he probably could not win it is what really has gone down there and that's pretty much...

In January of 2010, then-Senators Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut) and Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota) announced they would not be seeking re-election that year. The New York Times reported on the sudden retirements saying they "signaled that President Obama is facing a perilous political environment that could hold major implications for this year's midterm elections and his own agenda." We now refer to those major implications as what Mr. Obama himself called the "shellacking" of his party in those elections. Does today's announcement that 16-term Congressman Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) will not seek re-election send a similar signal about 2012?