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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....