Daily Rant – January 16, 2010
January 16, 2010
Can Mass. Recall Barney Frank?
With the spotlight on Massachusetts and the special election around Scott Brown’s run for the Senate, there is a dark cloud representing the fourth district in that state. Democrat Congressman Barney Frank [clueless] is no stranger to corruption, yet he remains in office despite his arrogance. I want to do something about that. Can we hope for a challenger to Mr. Frank’s seat?
Some of you may already know this, but for those who do not, back in 2006, Frank’s personal aide was running a gay prostitution ring out of Barney’s apartment. Because of political correctness, this story was pretty much swept under the rug. After all, it wasn’t he, but a hired assistant who was running the illegal business. Had this been a Republican, I think you know what would have happened. Just look at what happens when a conservative taps his foot under a bathroom stall or sends a text to a male page!
Okay, so these scandals have come and gone. But what about the one brewing? Surely you’ve heard about this headline:
HOUSE PASSES HISTORIC LEGISLATION TO REFORM WALL STREET AND PROTECT THE ECONOMY
It’s on Barney Frank’s home page which says, “Today, the House of Representatives approved sweeping new legislation to modernize America’s financial rules in response to the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.” But do you know what this law actually does? (And did any Republican vote for it? If so, they need to go too.)
- Increases consumer protections by creating a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA), a new, independent federal agency solely devoted to protecting Americans from unfair and abusive financial products and services. (Can you say, “bureaucracy?”)
- Additionally, it creates the Financial Stability Council (FSC), a council of regulators that will identify financial firms that are so large, interconnected, or risky that their collapse would put the entire financial system at risk. (Another bureaucracy. I feel safer already, don’t you?)
- End Taxpayer Bailouts and “Too Big to Fail”, an orderly process to shut down failing institutions. (But did you know this does NOT apply to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? More on that later.)
- Rein in Executive Compensation among other regulations.
These last two items are the ones I want to discuss in more detail. Note that none of the above regulations apply to Barney’s personal treasure chests of Fannie Mae and Feddie Mac. To quote the Hill Blog:
“Mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now basically a “public policy instrument” of the government, Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) suggested Tuesday.
“Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, asserted that the companies, which were taken over by the U.S. in September 2008, have become an extension of the government’s policy-making tools.”
Essentially what this means is that Freddie and Fannie have unlimited funds to operate; they have been given a blank check. It has been reported that the government (that’s you and me) stand to lose as much as $400 billion from this conservatorship. When these entities finally fail as they surely will, is Barney Frank going to be held accountable like he should be? Or will the press give him another pass?
This is not the worst of it. Barney Frank was responsible for the legislation to charge levies on the banks who paid their officers high salaries and bonuses (bullet 4 above). Go get them, Barney. But what about those Fannie and Freddie officers who also received salaries and huge bonuses? Mr. Frank admits they are too high, but nothing can be done about it. Oh, really? After all, aren’t they instruments of policy now under the federal government? I’ll bet if people put up enough of a stink, he would figure out something…or maybe not; he’s pretty arrogant from having gotten away with so much for so long.
Look at it this way. We loaned money to the banks and financial institutions to keep them from failing. Then they turned around and paid out huge salaries and bonuses to certain executives. Barney and his minions in the House swept in and did something about it to take them down a notch.
We also loaned money to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to keep them from failing. Then they turned around and paid out huge salaries and bonuses to CEOs. But this time Barney and his minions can do nothing about it. Is this because they are Barney’s “instruments of policy?”
CNN Money reports: “The $6-million compensation packages were approved by the Treasury Department and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, and made public on Dec. 24, 2009, Christmas Eve.”
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) sounds a lot like the other bureaucracies being set up by Barney Frank in this new legislation chartered to police the financial institutions. But here’s the rub. FHFA’s mission statement says, “Provide effective supervision, regulation and housing mission oversight of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks to promote their safety and soundness, support housing finance and affordable housing, and support a stable and liquid mortgage market.” WHAT A JOKE! They did none of those things… and we are paying their salaries and bonuses!
The worst part about the whole thing is that the subprime mess was actually orchestrated by Barney Frank in the first place! The Boston Globe reported this in 2008. Now he has been called on to fix it?
To summarize, thanks to Mr. Frank we are getting two new agencies who are going to do just as good (bad) a job at overseeing the financial institutions as FHFA was in overseeing Fannie and Freddie. Our government has become the personal wallet of Congressman Barney Frank, (D-MA) and must come to an end. THIS SPENDING HAS TO STOP!
What I am suggesting is a letter writing campaign to congress to protest Barney Frank’s actions. If he is justified in going after executives of one entity like the financial institutions, then he must also go after the lending giants’ executives. Personally I say, “hang them all, including Barney Frank.” Anyone with me?
- FedUpEditor
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