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HomeBarney Frank: “…Now They’re Starting to Hate Me…”
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 1st, 2009 12:21 PM |
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), House Financial Services Committee Chairman
Barney Frank should not be so presumptuous to think that it is just “now” that a large percentage of America is starting to hate him. The displeasure, if not the contempt, for Barney and his minions who have run our country into the ground over the last twenty years is soaring!!
As the Wall Street Journal reports this morning, Finance Lobby Cuts Spending as Feds Targeted Wall Street:
Wall Street’s spending on efforts to influence policy making diminished at the start of this year as the image of financial institutions has suffered with lawmakers and the public. Some of the sector’s major advocate groups lost funding and staff. Their spending declined just as the administration was hammering out its proposal for the biggest reorganization of financial-market oversight since the 1930s, details of which the White House released last month.
Industry lobbyists met last week to craft a response to the White House’s draft regulatory overhaul, particularly its creation of a consumer-oriented regulator for financial products, which could force major changes in how financial instruments are created and marketed. Whether or not the industry can influence this top administration priority, now that the plan is in the hands of Congress, will be a big test of its remaining clout.
The gig is up!! (more…)
Barney Frank: Twenty Years and Hundreds of Billions Later on Private Profit/Social Loss
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 14th, 2009 3:18 PM |
I find it embarrassing that our country is subjected to the leadership of the likes of Barney Frank. In a 7 minute interview on Bloomberg News this morning, I was initially shocked at Congressman Frank’s selective memory. As I watched the interview further, I got increasingly perturbed and upset that our country is subjected to a Congressional leader with such little appreciation for his own mistakes. From there, thinking that Barney and his colleagues are likely to impose their will and vision upon our economy makes me more concerned about the long term risks for our market and capitalism itself.
I am not blinded by the will of the free market. For a market to remain free, there needs to be strong regulation and real discipline. If the market does not impose the discipline, the government can and should provide guidance, incentives, and if need be hard rules. For the regulation to be effective, though, it is imperative that the regulators themselves are unbiased and unaffiliated within the industry. I would say that both FINRA and the SEC have fallen woefully short on these fronts. I would also say that Congress has fallen woefully short. Against that backdrop, to see none other than Barney Frank trying to make the case for the way forward on compensation reform and municipal insurance is VERY HARD TO SWALLOW.
In regard to compensation reform, I am all for empowering shareholders. I would begin by asking, though, when did shareholders lose the ability to influence compensation? Shareholders should regularly review compensation practices and figures and if they find them problematic, they should voice their opinions and if need be sell their stock.
As Barney was raising the risks embedded in the private profit and social loss model, I wanted to scream and ask him where he was as Franklin Raines was plundering Fannie Mae with Barney’s support on the Hill. Finding religion on these topics after twenty years and hundreds of billions of dollars may appease his constituents, but it does nothing for those who cherish free market capitalism.
Make no mistake, government was a large part of the problem then which makes me leery to think that it can be an effective part of the solution now.
To also hear Barney offer his opinion on the relative value of municipal debt versus corporate debt made me want to change the channel. The link to Barney’s Bloomberg interview is provided below. Let me know if you were able to stomach it before changing the channel.
Barney Frank, September 25, 2003 on the topic of sub-prime lending:
“I want to roll the dice…”
LD
Trust Tim Geithner, Larry Summers, Barney Frank?
Posted by Larry Doyle on December 31st, 2009 11:34 AM |
Blank checks are the antithesis of good public policy.
America can not allow the passage of time to lessen the outrage over the Obama administration’s Christmas Eve bonus to the financial sinkholes known as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Platitudes and posturing aside, the American taxpayer is being set up as never before.
A blank check may serve to cover a host of past financial and legislative failures promoted by the likes of Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, John Kerry et al, but who is monitoring and verifying the legitimate and proper use of these funds? Are we to blindly trust Treasury Secretary Geithner, White House economic adviser Larry Summers, and their respective staffs in this process? Are you kidding me? America needs to voice its outrage long and hard. In that spirit, I called yesterday to Audit Freddie and Fannie.
In the same vein, I am heartened by initiatives launched yesterday by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), and Reps. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) and Spencer Bachus (R-AL) to pursue an investigation of this blank check.
The Wall Street Journal reports, Lawmakers Want Probe Into Treasury Aid for Fannie, Freddie: >>> (more…)
Tags: audit Freddie and fannie, Barney Frank, Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich, Freddie and fannie's blank check, House Financial Services Committee, House Oversight and Government Reform panel, I want to roll the dice, John Kerry, Larry Summers, Scott Garrett, Spencer Bachus, sub-prime lending comment by Barney Frank, Tim Geithner, toxic assets on Wall Street, transferring losses from Wall Street to taxpayers, trust but verify
Posted in Barney Frank, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Larry Summers, Tim Geithner | 9 Comments »