BARNEY FRANK: “We’re trying to rescue the economy, not the McCain campaign.”

[FourScore]

Barney Frank has had some of the best lines:

“All of a sudden, now that we’re on the verge of making a deal, John McCain drops himself in to make a deal," Frank said. "I really worry about this politicization of it."

"Frankly, we’re going to have to interrupt a negotiating session tomorrow between the Democrats and Republicans on a bill, where I think we’re getting pretty close, and troop down to the White House for their photo-op, and then come back and get on to it," Frank said.

“We’re trying to rescue the economy, not the McCain campaign,” he added.

http://www.americablog.com/

[Captain Hilts]

1. Please, p l e a s e PLEASE, someone! Make HIM speaker of the house!

Republicans fear his smarts and his sass.

[BlooInBloo]

2. 2nd-ed.

[Xipe Totec]

65. Third!

[tekisui]

4. That is the best suggestion I have heard in a while.

Frank is Frank, Make him Speaker of the House!

[Balderdash]

11. He's good but I'd rather Hillary get Speaker.

Although I do love me some Barney Frank, he's making McCain look foolish and weak.

[Captain Hilts]

12. Agree - Hillary as Majority leader and Barney as speaker.

Ann Lewis will keep them in direct communication. We'd run like a well-oiled machine.

I worked with Republicans and they fear Frank's smarts.

[Balderdash]

15. Ah thank you

I got my Houses of Congress all mixed up this morning. Need more Starbucks!
And this way we could have both and put the milquetoasts we have now out to
pasture.

[SoonerPride]

14. Hillary is in the Senate. Not the House.

I'm sure you knew that though.

[Jackpine Radical]

33. I don't think she's up for demotion from the Senate.

Although she'd be a better Majority Leader than what we have.

[SemperEadem]

39. I think Durbin would be even better and he's next in line

[me b zola]

56. Yes. n/t

[Jackpine Radical]

59. I meant "better...than what we have" as weak and tepid praise.

[onenote]

43. Hillary is a Senator. She's not leaving the Senate to become House Speaker

[sallyseven]

49. Hillary cannot be Speaker of the house. Just

Majority leader of the Senate. I love Barney Frank but he will not be elected because of the simple minded people in the house. He is gay and that is more important than character or ability. Take a look at those repuks in the House.

[kestrel91316]

58. Um, Hillary CAN'T be Speaker. She's in the SENATE.

[TahitiNut]

60. There's something very ironic about posting such an "identiity politics" opinion ...

... along with the display of such abysmal ignorance of the distinction between House and Senate, Speaker and Majority Leader, and obviously the comparable merits of the individuals.

[rucky]

63. Now look what you've done!

don't sweat it. it's DU.

[racaulk]

16. I *love* this idea!!!

Can you imagine a gay Jewish man as Speaker of the House? I can hear the Repukes' collective heads popping alredy! :rofl:

[trueblue2007]

17. I like him but that SASS is sometimes unprofessional

We also need a statesman. We need someone who can reach across party lines and get the "moderate" GOPs on our side.

[Captain Hilts]

19. Good point. I like to think Frank would 'get' that. Or Ann would slap him. nt

[spooky3]

44. I don't think his comments are out of line in this case. He is challenging the McSame framing.

He is saying something quotable so it will be picked up in the media. The Dems. can't let the Repubs. get away with portraying the situation as "McCain is rising above politics because he really cares about the financial crisis, whereas Obama is just 'politics as usual.'"

[The Backlash Cometh]

23. Can you even imagine how that would turn out?

He would be winning Emmys for best Comedy Show. Jon Stewart would be pissed.

[Roland99]

24. Hear! Hear! Can we issue a recall on the roses sent to Nancy a couple yrs ago?

[bvar22]

64. I don't recall sending roses to Fancy Nancy.....

...and can't recall anything she has done to deserve them.

We DID send roses to Barbara Boxer.

[gateley]

29. Excellent!

[redqueen]

37. Hear hear!

:thumbsup:

[KathieG]

41. That would be perfect!

[MikeE]

57. Hell Yeah!!!

I love Barney! Speaker Barney Frank :woohoo: :headbang: :woohoo:

[madamesilverspurs]

62. Could we sell tickets

for the melodramatic fainting spells that would cause on the other side of the aisle?

[HopeHoops]

66. Actually, the homophobic GOP also fears his ass!

Barney is one of the most brilliant and articulate members of Congress in my political memory. I could go with the Speaker roll - we need someone tough.

[valerief]

67. Fourthed!!!

[faithfulcitizen]

3. right on the money.

[GreenEyedLefty]

5. DAMN! Best line evah!

Speaker of the House, indeed!

[grannie4peace]

6. i like barney!!!!!

:loveya:

[Joe Chi Minh]

7. Brilliant line, and bang on the mark!

[ruggerson]

8. Don't forget

On McCain pulling out of the debate:

"This is the longest Hail Mary pass in the history of either football or Mary's."

[blondeatlast]

9. He got off a good one yesterday about Mccain's "suspending" his campaign as well...

"The longest Hail Mary pass in either the history of football or Marys."


http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/24/14424...

[sufrommich]

10. Barney Frank and Chris Dodd have been a pleasure to

watch during this debacle.

[Captain Hilts]

13. Makes me feel warm and fuzzy that I sent Dodd campaign money. nt

[DissedByBush]

28. Your money was dwarfed by what he got from Fannie Mae

Hypocrites on both sides of the aisle.

[fasttense]

48. And what the Dems got from Freddie and Fannie is dwarfed by what McInsane's staffers got.

"Aquiles Suarez, listed as an economic adviser to the McCain campaign in a July 2007 McCain press release, was formerly the director of government and industry relations for Fannie Mae. The Senate Lobbying Database says Suarez oversaw the lending giant's $47,510,000 lobbying campaign from 2003 to 2006.

And other current McCain campaign staffers were the lobbyists receiving shares of that money. According to the Senate Lobbying Database, the lobbying firm of Charlie Black, one of McCain's top aides, made at least $820,000 working for Freddie Mac from 1999 to 2004. The McCain campaign's vice-chair Wayne Berman and its congressional liaison John Green made $1.14 million working on behalf of Fannie Mae for lobbying firm Ogilvy Government Relations. Green made an additional $180,000 from Freddie Mac. Arther B. Culvahouse Jr., the VP vetter who helped John McCain select Sarah Palin, earned $80,000 from Fannie Mae in 2003 and 2004, while working for lobbying and law firm O'Melveny & Myers LLP. In addition, Politico reports that at least 20 McCain fundraisers have lobbied for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, pocketing at least $12.3 million over the last nine years."

http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/09/9663_mccain_fannie_freddie.html

And that's not even touching what McInsane got.

[Sam Ervin jret]

53. What are you doing hitting these Spies with facts. You elitist!!! Where'd ya get those? In some

BOOK ??!!


ya, FIGURES!

[DissedByBush]

71. One of my favorite web sites

opensecrets.org

The dirt on every politician. Who's giving, who's getting, where the revolving doors are.

You also find good things like how Obama's openness in reporting is better than McCain's and how much more of Obama's money comes from individuals than McCain. I expected that from Obama and I am glad I wasn't disappointed.

[DissedByBush]

70. Are any of those people congressmen?

Are they the house Finance Committee chairman? Are they the ones who could be overseeing an investigation into this crisis while being neck-deep in it? No, they are the ones who were wining and dining Dodd and his friends. They were probably the ones arranging the six figure donations to Dodd and others.

McCain is at #62 on the list of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac "donations" 1989 to present. Dodd is at the top, followed by Obama, Kerry, Bennett and Bachus in the $100,000+ club.

I know McCain's best buds are lobbyists, it's obvious. What I want to know is why these people can take so much Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac money and then turn around and point fingers.

[Captain Hilts]

69. Fannie Mae is popular among Democrats because of how it has...

stabilized the housing market.

And, of course, it's a New Deal project which has Democratic appeal as well.

It's too powerful and needs to be slapped. Too late.

[imax2268]

18. that's classic...

Way to go Barney...!!!

[mike_c_56]

20. Wish Barney had

tried to rescue Fannie and Freddie when it was suggested.

[kennetha]

25. Yeah

He was going on back in 05 about how great and successful Fannie and Freddie were and how they had done a world of good for American homeownership and how they didn't need to be further regulated.

Talk about bad judgment.

[AllieB]

27. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

Nice talking point you got there. Care to elaborate?

[Indenturedebtor]

32. Welcome :D Please do elaborate. And if you could explain how a majority works in congress

I would really appreciate it.

Thanks :hi:

[mike_c_56]

73. the majority ignored the problem

Both sides had seen problems with the Fannie and Freddie schemes and offered solutions. But the ultra-partisan workings these days prevented any corrective action. Barney said a couple a years ago that everything was fine and no added regulation was needed.

People on both sides of the aisle knew otherwise. They would squawk a little while they (repubs and dems) fattened their accounts from these organizations.

On the surface more home ownership is better for the citizens and the country. But the deals they were writing had the home buyers putting 0% down. The home buyer owned 0% of the home, they were not "homeowners". When things got tough they had little incentive to remedy the problem.

Irresponsible lenders, buyers, and elected officials.

[spooky3]

45. he introduced legislation more than a year ago that the REPUBLICANS stopped.

I hope you are not an O'Reilly fan.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200809210007?f=s_search

[ananda]

21. So why is Frank caving?

The only concession the Dems are getting is smaller
golden parachutes.

Nothing for the poor and working classes ....

I'm pissed!

[bbgrunt]

34. dupe

[bbgrunt]

35. Me too!! Good zingers don't mean good policy.

[redqueen]

61. Have you called his office?

Please call and tell them you're pissed!

We want our equity, dammit!

:bounce:

[K8-EEE]

22. Johnny Mac in his Mighty Mouse costume!

Like it said in another thread....HEEEERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAAAAY!

Oh brother.

[liberalla]

26. Barney! Barney! Barney!

I could just hug you!

[mikelgb]

30. dems should stay on capitol hill, let it be all repubs in photo

[SeaLyons]

31. Thank you, Barney...n/t

[bushisanidiot]

36. Brilliant! He's calling McPani out!! This is nothing but a photo-op for McPanic!

thank you Mr. Frank!!

[underpants]

38. Empty Spectacle

as Frank Rich so precisely summed up the Bush administration

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

40. I have only one problem with Barney's statement:

He neglected to call McFeeb "Miss Thing".

Otherwise, spot-on.

[snappyturtle]

42. Calling mcsame out is fine. However, unless Barney et. al. have learned

a great deal more about the particulars of this bailout, I'd rather he not be caving in to bush.

[Supersedeas]

46. the media and their advertisers on the Free Ride Express are doing their damndest

[Emit]

47. Oh snap, Barney!

“We’re trying to rescue the economy, not the McCain campaign"

[krkaufman]

50. Well, that's Barney's viewpoint; but obviously Bush *is* trying rescue McCain ...

... thus the call for Obama and McCain to come to the White House.

Again, if McCain's presence was so important, why didn't he fly back to Washington immediately, rather than doing an interview w/ Couric on Wednesday and then speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative on Thursday, before finally flying back to DC?

"Urgent response" to McCain means "within 24-hours"? Sounds a lot like some other guy who sat around reading children's books on hearing the country was under attack.

[Bette Noir]

54. Why didn't he go to DC last Monday, when the market crashed?

Oh, yeah, "The fundamentals of the economy are strong."

How this witless wonder is supposed to be the saviour of the Western World, I can't figure out.

[krkaufman]

68. Mostly because he's continually propped-up by the media.

He's taken a hit recently when the media dared to highlight the dishonesty of his campaign, but his campaign would be dead if the media were a true objective organism.

[Subdivisions]

51. BULLSHIT!!!

It's a "BAILOUT" not a "rescue"! Stop allowing them to change the lauguage!!!


Otherwise, go Barney!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

52. Tell it like it is, Barney!

:loveya:

[Hippo_Tron]

55. He should be at the top of Obama's list for Treasury Secretary

[Mme. Defarge]

72. Proud to recommend!