Free Republic

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Wis., plans to introduce legislation repealing the Dodd-Frank financial services law, calling it “misguided” and a “blatant abuse of power.” A key criticism by Rep. Bachmann is a provision in the law that allows the federal government to take over failing non-bank institutions, such as American International Group, according to Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and a prime architect of the legislation. In a statement, Rep. Frank said another key objection to the legislation by Rep. Bachmann and her conservative supporters is the creation of the independent Consumer Financial Protection...

Bank of America will begin testing a new slate of checking accounts in Massachusetts and two other states later this month in an effort to generate more revenue from customers.......... A second new account, called “Premium,’’ will cost $15 a month unless customers either maintain a $5,000 minimum balance, use a Bank of America credit card at least once a month, or add $2,000 to the account every month. A third new account, labeled “Enhanced,’’ will cost $25 per month unless holders maintain at least $20,000 in deposits and investments in certain accounts or link their accounts to a Bank...

The Republicans are back in charge in the House of Representatives this week, and not a moment too soon! Forget "stimulus" bills and "shovel-ready" bailouts (for public school teachers, who need shovels for what they're teaching), the current financial crisis, which is the second Great Depression, was created slowly and methodically by Democrat hacks running Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the past 18 years. As even Obama's treasury secretary admitted in congressional hearings, "Fannie and Freddie were a core part of what went wrong in our system." And if it's something Tim Geithner noticed, it's probably something that's fairly...

Barney Frank tells young TV interviewers job exhausts himBy Donna Goodison Friday, January 7, 2011 - Updated 4 minutes ago He’s old, he’s tired and thinks it would be nice to have some free time and not have to read a lot of very boring and very complicated stuff that he doesn’t care about. That’s what U.S. Rep. Barney Frank told three college-age “Roadtrip Nation” interviewers during a July 2009 sit-down in his Washington, D.C., office for the public television program that aired Wednesday on ’GBH Kids. “I’m tired, and I think . . . it’d be nice to have...

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Rep. Michele Bachmann, the Republican from Minnesota, has made it official. She’s calling for a repeal of the Dodd-Frank Act, the regulatory overhaul enacted this summer that administration officials called “financial reform.”

The House Republican majority has said it will require members to cite the specific authority for any bill they introduce.House Democrats are lining up to ridicule a closely related rule that the Republican majority has said it will adopt, requiring members to cite the specific constitutional authority for any bill they introduce. "It's an air kiss they're blowing to the tea party," says Barney Frank, outgoing chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Henry Waxman, outgoing chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, all but dismissed any role for Congress in assessing the constitutionality of its actions: "Whether it...

In the early 1990s, the biggest names in the mortgage industry hatched a plan for a new electronic clearinghouse that would transform the home loan business - and unlock billions of dollars of new investments and profits. At the time, mortgage documents were moved almost exclusively by hand and mail, a throwback to an era in which people kept stock certificates, too. That made it hard for banks to buy and sell packages of home loans to investors. By contrast, a central electronic clearinghouse would allow the companies to transfer thousands of mortgages instantaneously, greasing the wheels of a system...

Governor Abercrombie was part of the same early 1960s University of Hawaii Marxist student clique as Obama’s parents, Barack Obama Sr. and Stanley Ann Dunham. As he likes to say, “I was here when that baby was born.” Abercrombie’s wife, UH Prof. Nancie Caraway, was a member of the Democratic Socialists of America National Feminist Commission in the mid-1980s. Caraway’s 1991 book, Segregated Sisterhood, is dedicated to Abercrombie and to former Communist Party member Bettina Aptheker, among others. Abercrombie denies ever having been a member of the DSA, but several editions of the DSA organ, the Democratic Left, describe Abercrombie...

Doesn't get much better than this. Back in the days when class trumped ghetto lyrics and no-talent metro-sexuals. These guys just make me smile. One as talented as the other. I hope they're smiling down on us today. I loved them...and still do. No one can ever replace them.It's A Marshmallow World

In 1991, Barney Frank received an official reprimand for reflecting "discredit upon the House." The reprimand came as a result of his relationship with a man named Steve Gobi, a male prostitute whom Frank initially paid $80 for sex. Frank later took Gobi to live with him in his home, making him a personal aide. He paid him $20,000 in compensation (unreported to the IRS) and let him use his car. Subsequent investigation revealed that in the course of their relationship, Frank used his congressional office and stationary to fix Gobi's 33 parking fines. Frank also used his congressional letterhead...

Mr. Frank's attitude seems to be that Americans need to justify why they should keep the money they inherit instead of the government needing to justify why they should be allowed to confiscate it. Video at link.

Former President Jimmy Carter came out forthrightly in favor of an openly gay person as president of the United States. “We’re breaking down the barriers that have been in place for hundreds of years,” Carter asserted. “President Obama is our first openly Black president. President Clinton was our first proven fornicating president. I think it’s about time that we have our first openly homosexual president.” Carter dismissed rumors that several former presidents may have been secretly gay as irrelevant. “I know there are those who say Lincoln may have been gay,” Carter admitted. “And Buchanan, a lifelong bachelor, certainly had...

<p>In a crowded gym during practice in front of parents and coaches, the Buchanan High School wrestler tackled a teammate and executed a move his coaches taught him.</p> <p>He inserted his fingers between the boy's buttocks.</p> <p>It's called the "butt drag," in which a wrestler grabs a rival's butt cheek and puts fingers in the anus to get leverage. The move is widely used at matches around the country and has been around for decades.</p>

"Summary of Support Terry Lakin Day: Rep. Trent Frank Staff; efforts already underway at their DC office to "try to stop the court-martial.10:30 - 11:45 AM - McCain 30 Supporters gathered at John McCain's office on 16th Street in Phoenix. Except for a group of about six that entered the office for about a 10 minute period, all marched and held signs (some photos attached) and American flags on both sides of the street for the entire time. Many drivers honked in agreement as they drove by. The group that entered the office were greeted by McCain staffer Barb Donaldson,...

Link only - Elizabeth Warren Recruits Dodd-Frank Enforcers From 50 States

Barney Frank: Homeowners Shouldn’t Have ‘False Hopes’November 18, 2010, 12:00 PM ET By Alan Zibel Associated Press Rep. Barney Frank U.S. homeowners who have missed mortgage payments shouldn’t have “false hopes” that they can challenge foreclosures due to paperwork flaws, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) said Thursday. Frank, the outgoing chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said at a subcommittee hearing that banks should be doing “everything possible to straighten out that paperwork problem.” But, he added that, consumers should not “get false hopes that this is going to lead to a substantial number of foreclosures being permanently forgotten.” Several...

'Inside Job" bills itself as "the first film to expose the shocking truth behind the economic crisis." It exposes whoremongering Wall Street traders, economic consultants who lie on their resumes and Hank Paulson's conflicts. But it doesn't answer what caused the crisis. Of course, it thinks it does. "This is how it happened," the film confidently tells viewers before taking them, oddly enough, all the way back to the 1980s. Why then? Because the Reagan administration — "supported by economists and financial lobbyists" — started a 30-year regulatory vacation that fomented unparalleled "greed and immorality" on Wall Street. "Progressive deregulation...

For many years, I’ve been a fan of Warren Buffett’s long term approach to value investing. Understanding the value of a company, regardless of its momentary stock price, is a great long term investing strategy. But it pains me whenever I read commentary from Buffett that glosses over reality or is somehow self-serving. His OpEd in the NYT today – Pretty Good for Government Work – paints an artificially rosy picture of the Bailout, ignores the negatives, and omits his own financial interest in government actions. What might he have written if Sir Warren was dosed with some sodium pentothal...

Did turnout push the Massachusetts elections back towards the Democrats? In the wake of statewide defeat last Tuesday, Republicans in the Bay State are trying to figure out what went wrong. The blizzard of emails amongst the Republican volunteers following an election in which Massachusetts voters rejected a slate of admirable Republican candidates is a sign that the volunteers will not need to conduct a postmortem — that is, a review following death. The Massachusetts GOP, the Massachusetts Tea Party movement, and the independent, conservative portion of the citizenry are not dead. Manifestly, their governing principle is the recognition that...

The GOP takeover of the House holds the nightmare scenario for Democrats of putting Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) in charge of the House Oversight Committee. Issa spent the last two years attempting to get subpoena power for a range of inquiries into activities in the Obama administration, including the firing of Inspector General Gerald Walpin, and to get a much closer look at the Friends of Angelo program at Countrywide Mortgage that appeared to offer sweetheart loan packages to leading Democrats in position to help Angelo Mozilo with regulators and legislation. Issa told Chris Wallace that the latter scandal would...