Here is who is taking shots at him:
"Before the campaign, Bielat, a 35-year-old Marine reservist, was a program manager at iRobot, a robotics company in Bedford, running a unit that makes robots used to detect roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan"
Some choice you have there. A banker's servant or a war-profiteer.
"Frank, Bielat clash over economy; In debate, Fourth District rivals also differ over military policy on gays" by Peter Schworm, Globe Staff | October 12, 2010
In a sharp-edged debut debate, US Representative Barney Frank, a Democrat, and Sean Bielat, his Republican challenger, squared off yesterday over national security, illegal immigration, and the roots of the mortgage crisis.
The hourlong face-off, broadcast by Boston radio station WRKO, featured a lively exchange over Frank’s alleged role in the collapse of the housing market, which has made the veteran legislator a national target of conservatives....
Frank, a leading liberal who has represented the state’s Fourth Congressional District for nearly 30 years and became chairman of the House Financial Services Committee in 2007, said....
He gets enough press.
The debate occurred as Bielat, Frank’s most serious opponent in years, seeks to tap into strong anti-incumbent sentiment and anger over a stagnant economy to win support in a decidedly Democratic district, which stretches from Newton to New Bedford. While a clear underdog, Bielat has campaigned aggressively in hopes of emerging as a legitimate challenger and mobilizing national Republican support.
Last month, Bielat’s campaign released results of an internal poll suggesting he trailed Frank by only 10 points. Frank’s campaign said its surveys indicate that the congressman, who in 2008 won 68 percent of the vote, is ahead by a far more comfortable margin. There have been no recent independent polls.
But in yesterday’s wide-ranging debate, hosted by Todd Feinburg and Thomas M. Finneran, the former Massachusetts House speaker, Bielat and Frank tackled the issues, trading thoughts on US foreign policy, government spending, and the anemic economy....
Before the campaign, Bielat was a program manager at iRobot, a robotics company in Bedford, running a unit that makes robots used to detect roadside bombs in Iraq and Afghanistan....
On Afghanistan, Frank said he was discouraged by conditions there and called for an orderly withdrawal of US troops.
“Now apparently the goal is to make Afghanistan into a functional society,’’ he said. “I do not think you can do that from the outside.’’
They always come up with this stuff just before election time -- and then forget about it for two years.
Bielat said the Obama administration “doesn’t know what it’s doing’’ in Afghanistan.
“There is no clear path to victory, nor has there been a clear definition of what a win looks like,’’ he said.
Then it is TIME TO COME HOME!
Frank said that resources expended in Afghanistan would be better spent on bolstering domestic security and that the military could never hope to eliminate all the terrorist havens around the world.
Well, you guys have had FOUR YEARS to DO THAT, and yet the WARS WERE FULLY FUNDED!
“If it’s not Afghanistan, it will be Yemen. If it’s not Yemen, it will be Somalia. If it’s not Somalia, it will be Sudan,’’ he said. “I don’t think it’s possible for America to shut up every rat hole in the world except at the cost of trillions of dollars when we’re getting so little help from our allies.’’
He sounds just like a war-mongering Repuglican! Terrorists everywhere!
Frank, displaying his customary acerbic wit, said Bielat’s comments were “exactly the opposite of the truth.’’
That has been so shopworn, and is so old.
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"More weapons cuts, reductions expected; Frank, others call for substantial savings in defense" by Tony Capaccio, Bloomberg News | October 14, 2010
NEW YORK —Yesterday, Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Newton, released a letter from 57 representatives and senators that calls on the commission to consider substantial cuts in defense.
Where the hell have you guys been the last four years?
“Given the size of our deficit and debt problems as well as the political challenges and policy controversies involved in implementing any solutions to them, it is clear to us that cutting the military budget must be part of any viable proposal,’’ according to the letter signed by fellow legislators, including most of the Massachusetts House delegation.
One Republican, Representative Ron Paul of Texas, also lent his support.
A key debate among the commissioners on the deficit reduction panel is whether to safeguard defense spending from any proposal for reducing government expenditures. A growing number of lawmakers believe paring defense spending, which has doubled since 2001 to nearly $700 billion a year — including the costs of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — must be part of any solution that brings the government’s ledger back into balance....
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Related:
"A New Bedford leather-goods factory.... knowingly hiring and concealing illegal workers.... U.S. Rep. Barney Frank called the closure "absolute corporate savagery"
Well, there is cutting the war budget, and then there is cutting the war budget.
And an even bigger looting:
"Stance on Fannie and Freddie dogs Frank; Veteran lawmaker says he mistrusted warnings" by Donovan Slack, Globe Staff | October 14, 2010
WASHINGTON — When US Representative Barney Frank spoke in a packed hearing room on Capitol Hill seven years ago, he did not imagine that his words would eventually haunt a reelection bid.
The issue that day in 2003 was whether mortgage backers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were fiscally strong. Frank declared with his trademark confidence that they were, accusing critics and regulators of exaggerating threats to Fannie’s and Freddie’s financial integrity. And, the Massachusetts Democrat maintained, “even if there were problems, the federal government doesn’t bail them out.’’
Now, it’s clear he was wrong on both points — and that his words have become a political liability as he fights a determined challenger to win a 16th term representing the Fourth Congressional District. Fannie and Freddie collapsed in 2008, forcing the federal government to buy $150 billion worth of stock in the enterprises and $1.36 trillion worth of mortgage-backed securities.
Frank, in his most detailed explanation to date about his actions, said in an interview he missed the warning signs because he was wearing ideological blinders.....
Then he doesn't deserve to go back.
Related:
“They’ve cleared the decks to use Fannie and Freddie as a vessel for whatever they want.... taking troubled mortgage investments off banks’ books.’’
And how much is that going to cost, readers?
"Obama’s budget blueprint also excludes the $6.3 trillion in liabilities of government-controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and delays for a second time a decision on restructuring the mortgage finance companies, which were seized 17 months ago"
Oh, the GOVERNMENT is HIDING IT with TAXPAYERS picking up the TAB again!
Also see: FORECLOSURE FRAUD & $45 TRILLION DOLLARS
Wow, that is ONE HELL of a BILL, Barney!
But Frank said that putting blame entirely on him is unfair — and several independent analysts agree. They said Republicans also failed to take warning signs seriously enough to avert disaster, despite controlling the White House and both houses of Congress between 2003 and 2007, a crucial period leading up to the Fannie and Freddie failures.
That is why we want to DUMP the LOT of you!
“Selling Fannie and Freddie as a purely partisan issue, it doesn’t really work,’’ said Jonathan Koppell, director of the School of Public Affairs at Arizona State University. “Both parties have plenty of responsibility.’’
Another analyst, University of Maryland economics professor Peter Morici, put it more succinctly. “This is a bipartisan mess,’’ he said.
That mess has a long history. The government created Fannie Mae in 1938 to make mortgages more affordable, and its cousin Freddie Mac came along in 1970. Congress allowed them to operate as private companies.
Known as government-sponsored enterprises, they didn’t provide mortgages themselves, but rather bought loans from banks and mortgage brokers, freeing up cash so the lenders could make more loans. Fannie and Freddie held or bundled the loans and sold them to investors as mortgage-backed securities.
You know, all the crap that Wall Street sold people!
In an effort to increase homeownership, the Clinton administration in the late 1990s and the Bush administration in the 2000s pushed Fannie and Freddie to meet growing quotas for buying affordable home loans. Those pushes, combined with a drive for more profits at the enterprises, drove Fannie and Freddie to take on more risk and more debt. They backed subprime and other risky loans, including mortgages for borrowers without proof of steady income.
At the same time, Fannie and Freddie were spending $155 million on a massive lobbying operation seeking to thwart any crackdown on their operations.
They poured $4.2 million into congressional campaign coffers in the years before they collapsed, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Their executives, lobbyists, and political action committees donated to both Republicans and Democrats, including Frank, who received about $65,000 between 2000 and 2008, a Globe review of individual contributions found.
But the director of the federal office responsible for overseeing Fannie and Freddie, Armando Falcon, began noticing their expanding portfolios and increasing reliance on risky investments. In early 2003, Falcon warned Congress in a 118-page report of the companies’ potential for a catastrophic failure that could jeopardize the economy.
Falcon sent his report to Frank and other Financial Services Committee members and asked that Fannie and Freddie be required to disclose more about their finances and be subject to tougher oversight. He followed it up with another report in June 2003....
The warning signs were compounded by revelations in 2003 and early 2004 that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had misstated earnings by billions of dollars in an effort to meet growth targets.
But Frank and other Democrats still opposed tighter regulation, Frank most notably in his public statements saying there was nothing wrong with Fannie and Freddie. He and other House Democrats also sent a letter to President George W. Bush in June 2004, saying the proposed crackdown could “weaken affordable housing performance . . . by emphasizing only safety and soundness.’’
Isn't that what you want in a home?
Frank, who became ranking minority member of the Financial Services Committee in January 2003, says now he doesn’t remember Falcon’s reports.
“I had just taken over as ranking member, all this stuff was very new to me,’’ he said.
You had been there for thirty years, you lying PoS.
Frank tried to tackle Fannie’s and Freddie’s problems from another angle, he said, introducing a predatory lending bill in spring 2004 that would reduce subprime loans. But the legislation did not address the voracious quest for profits or other problems at the mortgage lenders....
He initially supported a Republican measure in 2005 that would have imposed stricter standards on the lenders. But he voted against it in the full chamber because it did not include funding for affordable housing, he said....
Top Bush strategist Karl Rove still blames Frank for its failure, saying Frank and other Democrats portrayed a vote to regulate Fannie and Freddie as “anti-black, anti-brown, anti-poor, anti-homeowner’’ because of the enterprises’ affordable housing mission.
“They were brutal,’’ Rove said in a recent interview. “And so Republicans shied away from confronting it.’’
Frank dismissed those assertions....
In July 2008, then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson called Frank and told him the government would need to spend “billions of taxpayer dollars to backstop the institutions from catastrophic failure,’’ according to Paulson’s recent book. Frank, despite that conversation, appeared on national television two days later and said the companies were “fundamentally sound, not in danger of going under.’’
Unlike 2003 — when, Frank said, he didn’t realize what was going on — this time, he was deliberately trying to reassure the public, he said.
In other words, HE LIED!
“It was part of a conscious strategy to say to people, ‘Hey, look, we think we can handle this,’ ’’ he said. “It didn’t work.’’
Less than two months later, the government seized Fannie and Freddie and the bailout began.
They were among many culprits in the financial crisis, including investment bankers, mortgage brokers, and ratings agencies.
“The financial crisis was caused by deteriorating underwriting standards, almost all of which was done by privately securitized mortgages on Wall Street,’’ said William Wheaton, an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Frank recently played a key role in the passage this summer of extensive regulation of Wall Street. Still, it is Fannie and Freddie that haunt him on the campaign trail.
Koppell, at the University of Arizona, said it was an unusual marriage of interests that propelled the mortgage lenders into collapse: housing advocates who wanted more affordable loans, business interests that profited from greater volume, and politicians on both sides of the aisle who wanted to please the advocates and the businesses.
“Everybody’s interests converged,’’ Koppell said, “except the taxpayers’.’’
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Related: Barney Frank Benefited From Bailout Bill
Also see: Frankly Speaking
Barney Frank Benefited From State Debts
Yeah, Barney is for the little guy.
"Frank, Bielat trade barbs over mortgage crisis, taxes" by Peter Schworm, Globe Staff | October 15, 2010
In a spirited and often testy exchange, US Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Newton, and his Republican challenger, Sean Bielat, traded clashing views and sharp words yesterday in a televised debate that focused on the mortgage crisis, tax cuts, and Social Security.
The Fourth Congressional District race between Bielat, a 35-year-old Marine reservist and political neophyte from Brookline, and Frank, a veteran legislator who has served in Congress for nearly three decades, has attracted national attention and become far livelier than originally expected.
Bielat has sought to gain momentum by trying to hold Frank partially responsible for the subprime mortgage crisis, highlighting Frank’s support for the government-backed housing programs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac....
Frank said many political leaders missed the signs that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants that fell apart in 2008....
Although a decided underdog in a heavily Democratic region, Bielat is seeking to ride a wave of Republican momentum and anti-incumbent sentiment.
This week, the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan tracker of congressional races, downgraded Frank’s chances of victory, shifting the seat from “solid Democratic’’ to “likely Democratic.’’ The category is for races that are not currently considered competitive, but could become so.
Frank has typically coasted to reelection, winning 68 percent of the vote in 2008. He has stepped up his campaigning in recent weeks and showed little patience last night for Bielat....
Barney the BULLY! He DOESN'T LIKE IT when he is CHALLENGED!
The two also traded barbs over the federal stimulus bill and the auto industry bailout. Bielat said he would have let the companies fail, while Frank said that would have caused a “serious blow to American manufacturing.’’
What is left of it.
Both men said they supported extending unemployment benefits during difficult economic times, but clashed over other aspects of the federal stimulus program. Bielat said the best way to stimulate the economy was to “put more money in people’s pockets,’’ while Frank said public investments — from cleaning up harbors to hiring more teachers and police officers — offered broader benefits.
On the subject of taxes, Bielat said he would support extension of the Bush administration’s cuts, saying that “raising taxes during an economic downturn is not a good thing to do.’’
Frank said he supported raising taxes on the richest Americans to reduce the deficit and avoid steep public sector cuts. Bielat said he would reduce discretionary spending across the board.
Bielat also said he would back a partial privatization of Social Security and said the retirement age would probably have to be raised, possibly to over 70, to keep the insurance program viable.
That comment drew a sharp rejoinder from Frank, who said it would be a great mistake to raise it that high.
Bielat was not familiar with the district, Frank said, if he thought that fishermen and others who perform physically demanding jobs would be willing and able to work that long.
“I know more about hard labor than you do,’’ Bielat said.
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I don't like either one, and am glad the choice is not mine.
"Bielat tops fund-raising in new report; Frank has more money on hand" by Alan Wirzbicki and Matt Viser, Globe Staff | October 16, 2010
In a sign that he has caught the attention of Republicans in Massachusetts and beyond, GOP congressional hopeful Sean Bielat outraised every congressional candidate in the state in the latest reporting period — including his opponent, longtime US Representative Barney Frank — according to newly released campaign finance filings in most races....
But even with Bielat’s haul, Frank still has far more money in the bank, and the Newton Democrat will enjoy a 3-to-1 financial advantage as the campaign enters the homestretch....
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US Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Newton, says he will dip into his retirement savings and lend $200,000 of his own money to his campaign so he can respond to what he expects will be an onslaught of negative advertising from organizations that support his opponent, Republican Sean Bielat.
He must really be worried!
“Even though the polls show me significantly ahead of my Republican opponent and I have raised enough money to run a conventional campaign, I am lending these funds to my campaign in order to defend against outside attacks from organizations which take advantage of loopholes in campaign finance law,’’ Frank said in a statement yesterday.
He said he expected a “flood of right-wing attack ads’’ and said, “I am determined to refute the stream of lies and distortions that are coming this year from anonymously-funded extremists.’’
Been reading a newspaper again, Barney?
Frank, who represents the Fourth Congressional District, cited several groups that he said were targeting him, including the Susan B. Anthony List, an antiabortion group, and the Tea Party movement....
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Where is Barney getting his money?
"Bielat’s out-of-state donations swell" by Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff | October 29, 2010
Republican Sean Bielat is outraising 15-term US Representative Barney Frank by lopsided margins in small-dollar donations, mostly via the Internet.....
Frank has relied heavily on political action committees, many in the financial services sector. In the past two months, PACs and other politicians’ committees have poured $257,000 into Frank’s campaign. On Monday, for instance, eight PACs kicked in $22,400, including two public employee unions that gave $5,000 and $2,500, respectively, the American Insurance Association and Citizens Financial Group ($2,000 apiece), and Putnam Investments ($2,500)....
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So what do the polls say?
"Democrats hold edge in two key House contests; But lead slim in 10th; GOP finds new vigor" by Alan Wirzbicki, Globe Staff | October 25, 2010
With the election just a week away, US Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Newton, leads his Republican challenger, Sean Bielat, by 13 percentage points among likely voters in the Fourth Congressional District....
That's closer the Bielat's poll, Barn!
Among likely voters in their districts, Frank leads Bielat, 46 percent to 33 percent....
In the Fourth District, Bielat, a business consultant and ex-Marine from Brookline, has become a fixture on conservative talk radio and favorite of Republican activists nationally, but voters in the district, according to follow-up interviews, seemed unsure of his positions, background, or even that he was running at all, while many voiced support for Frank, who has represented the diverse district for three decades.
“I think he’s served us very, very well over many, many years. My impression is he’s a very bright man, very funny, and very liberal,’’ said Hugh Coffman, a pediatric psychologist in Brookline. “I don’t know anything about his opponent.’’
Nancy Glynn of Marshfield, 48, an unemployed mortgage underwriter, said she was not voting for Governor Deval Patrick, but was supporting Frank because of his support for the fishing industry.
“He’s been a great guy,’’ she said.
Amurka gets the government it deserves, duh!
But Manuel Ganz, 71, a retiree from Brookline, said he would be voting the GOP party line in the election.
“Basically, I’m a conservative. I don’t care who it is, I’m voting for the Republican,’’ Ganz said.
That's not me. I examine each race.
The poll found that Frank enjoys especially strong support from women, who chose him over Bielat by a two-to-one margin....
I'm disappointed, ladies.
“It’s kind of good news and bad news for Frank,’’ Smith said. “The good news is he has a fairly significant lead, but the downside is that he’s the incumbent and he’s at less than 50 percent.’’
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And Barney knows it!
"Challenge pushes Frank into overdrive; Bielat riding wave of GOP enthusiasm" by Peter Schworm and Lisa Wangsness, Globe Staff | October 30, 2010
NEW BEDFORD — You would never know he was in a fight for his political life, the way Barney Frank quietly slipped into the dining hall crowded with senior citizens this week, as though not wanting to intrude. A few seconds passed before anyone in the crowd, chatting over pizza and Price Rite soda, even noticed he had arrived....
The same way he will leave Washington.
Just two years removed from winning reelection in a landslide, Frank now faces a challenger, Sean Bielat, a Marine reservist who has drawn national attention and a surging number of donations from conservatives across the country who are salivating at the prospect of Frank’s defeat.
I'll bet he hangs on -- and returns to the minority.
The 15-term representative is dogged by his strident support in Congress of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage backers that bought up bales of loans to individuals with little ability to pay. The enterprises collapsed in 2008, requiring a massive government bailout. But in New Bedford, where Frank has long enjoyed strong support for his staunch support of the fishing industry, he has accumulated immense goodwill.
It was on display a day this week that took him to a rail bridge groundbreaking, a defense contractor in a vast industrial park, a fund-raiser with fishermen, and to the dining hall. There, Frank spent most of an hour handing out hot pizza, calling old ladies “dear,’’ and even smiling a time or two.
What a hypocritical liar!
“I was a little concerned about the whole Fannie and Freddie mess,’’ said Nancy Ingham, 64. “But he knows how to fight the fight, and I’m not willing to give up on him.’’
Ingham’s son, 30, had been working in shipping at a golf equipment manufacturer, but was laid off a couple of years ago. Since then, he has applied for well over 100 jobs, but has gotten only a handful of interviews, and no offers.
“It’s not just my son,’’ she said. “It’s lots of people. But Barney told me he knows how bad it is. He knows there’s a serious problem.’’
What you will find is this whole article is an agenda-pushing public relations push for the frightened Frank.
Frank’s remarks to the gathering focused on protecting Social Security and Medicare and conveyed a characteristically partisan message. The fast-talking, combative face that Frank often presents to political opponents was nowhere to be seen.
We call it being TWO-FACED!
“He was warm and friendly, not at all like he is on TV,’’ said Sandra Walsh, a 62-year-old who, like most people who came to hear Frank, had lived her entire life in New Bedford. “I didn’t know he was a softie.’’
Several people spoke of how Frank’s office had helped them with a personal problem or tried to. Frank always had their best interests at heart, they said.
If you fools want to believe that. Work for banks, do you?
Most residents said they wanted a congressman who would bring federal money back to the district, and Frank told the seniors he was proud of the funding he has helped to secure. Bielat does not believe in earmarks, he warned, and as a freshman congressman would have little clout.
But at least he will be in the majority.
The latest polling has Frank ahead; a Globe poll released earlier this week had Frank leading by 13 points. But as Bielat stood at a busy Wellesley intersection at rush hour Thursday, the 35-year-old exuded a quiet confidence.
Machines rigged?
“All the momentum is with us,’’ he said. “There is just more excitement on our side. The debates went well; the money’s coming in. But the biggest thing is the volunteers. . . . We’ve made almost 200,000 person-to-person phone calls.’’
Bielat said offers to help were rolling in from across the country; volunteers in Oregon, California, and Pennsylvania have been making phone calls for the campaign.
“A lot of people see Barney Frank as a symbol for . . . what’s going wrong in D.C.,’’ he said.
YUP! One of 'em, anyway!
Jean Barringer of Wellesley, rushing through the square on her way from a tennis lesson to the Whole Foods Market across the street, wished him luck. “We have a sign on our front lawn for you,’’ she said.
“I don’t like what Barney Frank stands for,’’ she said, citing “the bailouts and Fannie Mae.’’
I don't like his attitude.
“He’s had it too easy for many years,’’ she said.
Most of the Bielat supporters waving signs were middle-aged but relatively new to political activism. Many said they got involved because of two major issues: what they saw as Frank’s central role in creating the housing crisis and Frank’s demeanor toward those who disagree with him.
“I just think his attitude is very arrogant,’’ Russ Cramer of Wellesley said of Frank. “He’s very know-it-all and doesn’t listen. . . . .’’
I always thought that.
********
Fred Definis, who runs his own business selling parts for playgrounds, held a sign that read, “Retire Barney Frank.’’ Definis, 58, was a Democrat for decades. But....
In New Bedford, though, personal loyalty seemed to mean as much to voters as political ideology, maybe more....
Barney holds on by the skin of his chinny-chin-chin.
Others complain that opponents are throwing blame for the financial crisis at Frank, saying Republicans are revising history.
“It’s not Barney’s fault,’’ said Alfred Bergeron, 66. “It’s Wall Street, the banks, the mortgage companies. They’re to blame. He’s on our side.’’
Actually no, he is not.
See: Bankers' Best Friend
Is that your side, readers?
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Also see: Boston Globe Censored Briefs: Barney Frank Exhales Fart Mist
Sunday Globe Censorship: Barney Frank Tells Gays to Go F*** Themselves
Dude, show some respect
Wow, Barney really is a jerk.
