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The most recent Barney Frank scandal involves the congressman accepting a gift of a round trip fight on a luxury jet from S. Donald Sussman of Paloma Partners, a hedge fund manager who had previously received a $200 million federal bailout as a subsidiary of AIG. As chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Frank oversaw the dispersion of the bailout funds. Frank reported the cost of the 2009 flight from Maine to the Virgin Islands, estimated to be worth $30,000 each way, to Congress as worth $1,500. Not reported was his free stay at the AIG affiliated hedge fund...

Barack Obama Has Destroyed the Economy in Two-and-a-Half Years July 14, 2011 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: "Boehner: Dealing With the White House 'Has Been Like Dealing With Jell-O' -- In a meeting with a small group of reporters in his Capitol Hill office this morning [he] criticized President Obama and White House officials for their lack of resolve in negotiations. 'Dealing with them the last couple months has been like dealing with Jell-o,' Boehner said. 'Some days it's firmer than others. Sometimes it's like they've left it out over night.' Boehner explained that talks broke down over the weekend because,...

In what could be a repeat of the easy-lending cycle that led to the housing crisis, the Justice Department has asked several banks to relax their mortgage underwriting standards and approve loans for minorities with poor credit as part of a new crackdown on alleged discrimination, according to court documents reviewed by IBD. [snip] Another Reno protege, Perez has compared bankers to Klansmen. Only difference is, he said, bankers discriminate "with a smile" and "fine print." He said this kind of racism, though more subtle, is "every bit as destructive as the cross burned in a neighborhood." Perez has put...

In just a few days some fairly big changes in the commodities and currency trading markets are expected to land with a thud.  The changes stem from the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act aimed primarily at consumer lending, but is also having a wide ranging impact on securities trading.  Some of the changes are fairly straightforward and are intended to curb speculation that comes at the expense of consumers.  Others are aimed at curbing the excesses of the largely unregulated derivatives market.  Most of those changes will generally be good for consumers, all were well-intended but, like...

Congressmen Ron Paul, Barney Frank and others will introduce legislature Thursday that aims to end a major part of the war on drugs -- namely the battle against marijuana. Reps. Paul (R-Texas) and Frank (D-Mass.), though technically on opposite sides of the aisle, have often spoken out against the war on drugs and will propose a bill "tomorrow ending the federal war on marijuana and letting states legalize, regulate, tax, and control marijuana without federal interference," according to a statement from the Marijuana Policy Project via Reason. The bill would allow the individual states to decide how they want to...

The “strange bedfellows of the week” award might just land at the feet of Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank and Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul. Thursday the pair plan together to unveil legislation to legalize marijuana. According to a press release from the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), the two congressmen will introduce “bi-partisan legislation tomorrow ending the federal war on marijuana and letting states legalize, regulate, tax, and control marijuana without federal interference.” It will be the first bill ever introduced in Congress to end the federal ban on marijuana.

Barney Frank and Ron Paul unite - over weed Caroline May June 22, 2011 ... Thursday the pair plan together to unveil legislation to legalize marijuana. ... Other co-sponsors include Tennessee Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen, Michigan Democratic John Conyers, Colorado Democratic Rep. Jared Polis and California Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee.

A bipartisan team of Reps. Barney Frank, D-Mass., and Ron Paul, R-Texas, will introduce federal legislation that would permit states to legalize, regulate, tax and control marijuana without federal interference. The legislation will be unveiled Thursday by Frank, an outspoken liberal Democrat, and the libertarian Paul, who is running for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. The bill would limit the U.S. government role in marijuana enforcement to interdiction of cross-border or inter-state smuggling. Citizens would be able to legally grow, use or sell cannabis in states which have legalized the forbidden weed. The legislation is the first bill to be...

Frank: Based On My Past "Not Appropriate" For Me To Comment On Weiner

DEVELOPING: NEW CASTLE, Del. -- Police on Friday afternoon came to the home of a 17-year-old high school junior to ask her about direct online communications she has had with Rep. Anthony Weiner. Two officers from the New Castle County Police Department arrived at the girl's home around 4:30 p.m. and asked to speak with the girl's mother about the daughter's contact with Weiner. Another officer appeared at the home a short time later. A FoxNews.com reporter was at the home when the police arrived. The girl, whose name is being withheld because she is a minor, told FoxNews.com, "I'm...

Democrats, watch out. The Republican Party and especially its Tea Party wing have just acquired a new weapon of mass destruction — and it has nothing to do with any of Congressman Wiener’s rogue body parts. If they deploy this weapon effectively in the next election cycle — a big if — then they have the biggest opportunity to move the country rightward since Ronald Reagan took the oath of office back in 1981. The Tea Party WMD stockpile is currently stored in book form: Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon. By Gretchen Morgenson,...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Falling home prices have shrunk equity so much that the proportion of their homes that Americans actually own is near its lowest point since World War II. The Federal Reserve says average home equity plunged from more than 61 percent at the start of 2001 to 38 percent in the January-March quarter this year. That drop comes as home prices in big metro areas have reached their lowest level since 2002.

Reid to Weiner: 'Call somebody else' mug.cnnpolitics By: CNN Political Unit Washington (CNN) – Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid gave embattled Rep. Anthony Weiner no love on Capitol Hill Tuesday. "I know Congressman Weiner and I wish there was some way I can defend him, but I can't. OK?" Reid said. And then there was this exchange with reporters: Q: You didn't say whether you thought Congressman Weiner should resign. Reid: I'm not here to defend Weiner. Q: What do you think he should do? Reid: That's all I'm going to say. Q: Senator Reid, what advice would you...

Sen. Chuck Schumer refused to answer questions Monday evening about the Twitter scandal that has ensnared Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.), his one-time congressional aide. But in a statement, the powerful Democratic senator said he was "deeply pained and saddened" about the married congressman's admission at a New York news conference Monday that he carried on lewd online conversations with at least half a dozen women. "By fully explaining himself, apologizing to all he hurt and taking full responsibility for his wrongful actions, Anthony did the right thing," Schumer said. "He remains a talented and committed public servant, and I pray...

Candidates lob shots during convention Open season on Scott Brown officially kicked off yesterday with five of the six Democratic candidates seeking to reclaim the “people’s seat” training their sights and barbs squarely on the freshman U.S. senator during speeches at their party’s state convention in Lowell. “When Ted Kennedy went behind closed doors with lawmakers and lobbyists, he always fought for us,” Bob Massie, the nonprofit executive who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1994, told some 3,000 Democratic delegates gathered on the floor of Tsongas Center. “When Scott Brown goes behind closed door with lawmakers and lobbyists and...

As Weinergate goes on, Congressman's wife puts on a brave face and goes back to work with Hillary ClintonBy Daily Mail Reporter - Huma Abedin carrying on as if nothing happened - She's showing incredible grace under fire with no signs of embarrassment - He tells Rachel Maddow it's possible the crotch photo belonged to him - Says he will continue to use Twitter despite scandal - Dreams of becoming New York mayor may be dashed Amid the controversy and the scandal, as poised and unfaltering as ever, Anthony Weiner's wife returned to work. Huma Abedin - who has only...

Corruption: How is it that a GOP politico can get drummed out of the Senate for bathroom acts while Rep. Barney Frank merits not even a flicker of censure for economically disastrous cronyism? When will the double standard end? Two years after politically motivated mortgage lending triggered the biggest collapse since the Great Depression, House Finance Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., has been found to have helped one of his lovers, Herbie Moses, land a six-figure job at Fannie Mae, the agency at the center of the meltdown and one he had a responsibility to regulate. Instead of exerting oversight...

"If you want to watch a corruptocrat start sputtering like Porky Pig with allergies, confront him with three simple words: conflict of interest. Asked this week about his role in securing an ex-lover's highly coveted job at government mortgage giant Fannie Mae, Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank retorted: "Aba-dee aba-dee aba-dee aba-dee." Or that's what it sounded like, anyway...."

Nothing improper here, folks. Just move along. You're a homophobe if you think there was anything unseemly going on. The Fannie Mae executive who hired U.S. Rep. Barney Frank’s former lover was a campaign donor and once worked for the congressman — but denies the Newton Democrat’s recommendation played a role in the controversial 1991 hiring.