Revised November 29, 2011
Sorry, but I’m not about to join the chorus singing the praises for Mass. Rep. Barney Frank on his announced retirement from the House. Yes, he was one of the earliest openly gay members of Congress (Rep. Gerry Studds actually was the first, and Frank’s coming out was tainted by scandal over his boyfriend working as a prostitute from their apartment).
On the plus side, Frank championed gay rights legislation that never passed, such as the Employee Non-Discrimination Act, and opposed, unsuccessfully, the Defense of Marriage Act and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, both signed into law by President Bill Clinton, whom he avidly supported.
But gay rights don’t exist in a vacuum, as our friends on the left tirelessly remind us. And Frank, in my view, has been one of the all time worst legislators in U.S. history. During the housing bubble that eventually brought us to the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, Frank tireless opposed efforts to require more sensible capital reserve requirements for federally created Democratic housing fiefdoms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Opposing stronger regulation of these government sponsored enterprises (while trying to ramp up the red tape on private financial firms), he famously intoned in 2003, “These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis. The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.”
When they blew up due to lack of sufficient capital (couldn’t see that coming?), Frank blamed the political opposition. He also championed legislation forcing banks to make subprime housing loans to those whose lack of income and assets should have disqualified them (the Community Reinvestment Act), and who later would be among those with homes they couldn’t afford and mortgages they couldn’t pay (who could have guessed?). Frank said critics of the bill and its effects were motivated by racism.
The result was the bank bailouts that taxpayers funded. And if that wasn’t enough damage, Frank capped his career with the Dodd-Frank regulatory behemoth that is helping to strangle business investment.
Barney, good riddance. Don’t let the congressional door slam you on the way out.
More. An argument has been made that if Clinton had not signed the Defense of Marriage Act, Congress would have sent to the states (which would have ratified) the much worse Federal Marriage Amendment. Maybe. But I think history shows that trying to appease an enemy by surrendering some rights and liberties only makes the enemy, having tasted victory, hungry for more. If instead of boasting about signing DOMA Clinton had used some political capital to make the case for letting states decide the issue, an argument with some conservative resonance, things might have turned out very differently.
15 Comments for “Barney Frank, None Too Soon”
posted by Jorge on
But gay rights don’t exist in a vacuum, as our friends on the left tirelessly remind us. And Frank, in my view, has been one of the all time worst legislators in U.S. history.
Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, fine, FINE, I’m not a fan of that arrogant twit, either.
On the plus side, Frank championed gay rights legislation that never passed, such as the Employee Non-Discrimination Act, and opposed, unsuccessfully, the Defense of Marriage Act and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, both signed into law by President Bill Clinton, whom he avidly supported.
But I’ll take my medicine.
he was one of the earliest openly gay members of Congress…. Frank came out after being caught up in a scandal over his then-boyfriend working as a prostitute from their apartment.
Really, though, I’m just glad the old fart’s out. We are now in a great new world. We now have homocons, down-lows, Orthodox gay-lesbian marriages, famous people you’ve just met, and even more famous people you always knew. It’s a good thing that the Barney Franks of the world have helped to pave the way for the Jim McGreeveys.
We have so much to do.
posted by John D on
Read your own source. It’s not “his then-boyfriend working as a prostitute from their apartment,” but “his ex-boyfriend revealing that Frank kicked him out upon discovering that he was working as a prostitute from their apartment.”
Steve Gobie, inspired by the movie Mayflower Madam, decided to cash in. He couldn’t sell his story, so he went to the Washington Post to see if that would drum up some interest.
posted by APJ on
Err…Gerry Studds was a Democrat. The only out Republicans in congressional history were Steve Gunderson (R-WI) and Jim Kolbe (R-AZ). I suspect it will be a while before we have another openly gay Republican in congress given the current leanings of the party.
posted by Jim on
Aargh! Stephen, Stephen. Gerry Studds was NEVER a GOP member. And the prostitute scandal of Barney’s occurred in 1989, 2 years after he came out of the closet. Jeesh, get your facts straight (ahem) before posting, thanks. But I agree with your sentiment: Mr. Frank, don’t let the door hit ya where the Good Lord split ya.
posted by Houndentenor on
I am sick of people’s ignorance about the housing collapse. The focus on the peripherals rather than the real cause is intentional. Banks would love to distract you from the fact that they created securities designed to fail, sold them without warning the buyers and also sold the securities to bet against them. Indictments have been issues and trials will be held. Meanwhile the media, too lazy to ask intelligent questions of follow a story that can’t be summed up in eight words or less continues to follow the tired leads and outright lies and gross distortions are repeated by people too lazy or too eager to blame anyone but the banks for what went wrong. It’s sad but a commentary on why the problems facing our country will not be solved any time soon.
posted by Amicus on
It’s laughable that you’d try to pin Freddie/Fannie on Barney. Seriously, he dispatched GOP-leaning sentiments on this in his press conference with the kind of confidence, alacrity, and competence that is his trademark (and that make him a target for the mindless spin-machine).
Claiming that Dodd-Frank is strangling business investment is akin to putting on your own dunce cap.
posted by Jorge on
And he dodged the serious questions and any semblance of personal responsibility on the O’Reilly Factor with the kind of arrogance, finger-pointing, and contempt that is the trademark of the most narcissistic and poisonous people in politics.
We saw the same thing with Anthony Weiner, and no one was sad to see him go, either.
posted by Houndentenor on
“arrogance, finger-pointing, and contempt”
Was that intended to refer to Frank or O’Reilly. LOL
posted by Curt on
As I read this post, I thought where have I heard or read this before. Yes, from my rabidly anti-gay, racist, birther, bagger brother. Is Stephen Miller a pen name for the rantings of Rick Santorum or Karl Rove?
posted by another steve on
The case for the culpability of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (and their Democratic protectors) in the housing crisis and fiscal meltdown is certainly not limited to the fringes of the right. Moderates and centrists also blame the antics of these federal mortgage giants while also holding private banks responsible for their share (even beyond the subprime mortgages Frank and company pushed banks to make under the awful Community Reinvestment Act).
posted by Houndentenor on
This is just ignorance.
No one in Congress suggested to banks that they should hand people $50,000 at signing for a mortgage with payments they couldn’t possibly make. No one in Congress every meant for banks to tell people to lie about their income to qualify for a mortgage.
These lies may fly with Fox News watchers but I was there on Wall Street (40 Wall Street to be exact) when this was all going down. I remember people sounding alarms. Oh and I remember that all the banks put a hiring freeze in effect early in 2007 when it was clear that this was about to come crashing down around them. (There were also restrictions on travel and other expenses to cut costs without sounding an alarm like a layoff would have.) I remember all this very well.
I’m not defending Fannie and Freddie but I keep hearing from people who aren’t actually stupid that the housing crisis was caused by CRA or by ACORN. Those assertions are patently absurd. (CRA is from the 70s. That’s really the law that caused a mortgage meltdown in 2008?)
I’m appalled at how misinformed so many Americans are. I would blame it on Fox News and talk radio but the truth is that hardly any major media covered the story in any kind of depth. The information was out there if you searched and read lengthy articles but you could only get that from newspapers willing to devote the space, not from television which only seems interested in celebrity trials, missing toddlers and sex scandals.
It didn’t alarm anyone when banks began offering 50 year mortgages? Interest only mortgages? If that didn’t set off alarms then you’re a moron. There are a lot of morons obviously. I fear for the future of this country because we learned nothing from the last financial crisis and we’ll have an even bigger one in 10 years because the same people are still in charge and the people I heard sounding alarms are all at retirement age.
posted by Jorge on
Whatever.
I might spare more thought to this if Frank wasn’t such a jerk. He has something to hide.
posted by Houndentenor on
Frank was going to retire in 2014 anyway so he decided to go ahead and do it two years earlier. His district was radically redrawn and he saw it as a good time to move on. That makes sense to me. I don’t know what he would be hiding, or at least what more than any other member of the House.
posted by Michael White on
Wow. I have always found this site a place where I could go for a well reasoned comment on gay issues. This ad hominum attack has left me stunned and less of a fan.
posted by Scott on
Gerry Studs was a pig who was outed only after caught having sex with a 17 year-old male page, so why are you saluting him? Studds did not voluntarily come out. Barney Frank was the first to come out voluntarily.
I think this attack on Frank’s entire career over the mortgage crisis is ridiculous. This article is unfair. Frank was in the minority party while on the Financial Services Committee, as the GOP had control for six straight terms prior to 2007. As adversarial and polarized the parties were during those years, Frank likely could have passed no reform legislation to solve it. In 2007, after gaining control, two reform pieces of legislation were enacted.
I will always remember how Frank practically stood alone in vocal opposition when the Terri Schiavo legislation was pushed through.