I had written to our Representative in Congress, Mr. Frank, who is the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. As you can surmise, he has been pretty busy in the past couple weeks, but ...
...he has responded with a lengthy, but very informative letter. I have posted the letter here. Those of you how are interested in the why and how $700 billion of your tax dollars got sent to the financial services companies can read it. As always leave your comments.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Mr. Frank on the financial crisis and bailout
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What he failed to mention was that he was sleeping with an executive from Fannie Mae throughout the nineties. Mr. Frank always introduced him as his lover. Now, do you think Fannie Mae received favorable help from Mr. Frank at this time or unfavorable?
Prominent Democrats ran Fannie Mae, the same government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) that donated campaign cash to top Democrats. And one of Fannie Mae’s main defenders in the House – Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., a recipient of more than $40,000 in campaign donations from Fannie since 1989 – was once romantically involved with a Fannie Mae executive.
The media coverage of Frank’s coziness with Fannie Mae and his pro-Fannie Mae stances has been lacking. Of the eight appearances Frank made on the three broadcasts networks between Jan. 1, 2008, and Sept. 21, 2008, none of his comments dealt with the potential conflicts of interest. Only six of the appearances dealt with the economy in general and two of those appearances, including an April 6, 2008 appearance on CBS’s “60 Minutes” were about his opposition to a manned mission to Mars.
Frank has argued that family life “should be fair game for campaign discussion,” wrote the Associated Press on Sept. 2. The comment was in reference to GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and her pregnant daughter. “They’re the ones that made an issue of her family,” the Massachusetts Democrat said to the AP.
The news media have covered the relationship in the past, but there have been no mentions since 2005, according to Nexis and despite the collapse of Fannie Mae. The July 3, 1998, Reliable Source column in The Washington Post reported Frank, who is openly gay, had a relationship with Herb Moses, an executive for the now-government controlled Fannie Mae. The column revealed the two had split up at the time but also said Frank was referring to Moses as his “spouse.” Another Washington Post report said Frank called Moses his “lover” and that the two were “still friends” after the breakup.
Frank was and remains a stalwart defender of Fannie Mae, which is now under FBI investigation along with its sister organization Freddie Mac, American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG) and Lehman Brothers (NYSE:LEH) – all recently participants in government bailouts. But Frank has derailed efforts to regulate the institution, as well as denying it posed any financial risk. Frank’s office has been unresponsive to efforts by the Business & Media Institute to comment on these potential conflicts of interest.
Thanks Anon 4:17 - even ignoring all that you wrote because I'm sure all the rapid lefties will - Congressman Frank also slept through the build up to this crisis and now finds himself in the enviable position of 'solving' the problem and casting blame anywhere but on himself. No worries for Congressman Frank though. This area will re-elect him and continue to put all their faith in his abilities to get us thru this mess.
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