Good Widdance

With his decision not to face re-election due to the fact redistricting in Massachusett's 4th District gives him poor odds of winning, Barney Frank has called it quits when his term ends in 2013.  It's ironic since redistricting got him elected in 1980.

By leaving Congress, Frank singlehandledly improves the tone in Washington.

While historians will determine his legislative legacy, Wikipedia is off to a good start:

"In 2003, while the ranking minority member on the Financial Services Committee, Frank opposed a Bush administration proposal, in response to accounting scandals, for transferring oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from Congress and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to a new agency that would be created within the Treasury Department. The proposal, supported by the head of Fannie Mae, reflected the administration's belief that Congress "neither has the tools, nor the stature" for adequate oversight. Frank stated, "These two entities ...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." In 2003, Frank also stated what has been called his "famous dice roll": "I do not want the same kind of focus on safety and soundness [in the regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac] that we have in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision. I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidized housing." In July 2008, Frank said in an CNBC interview, "I think this is a case where Fannie and Freddie are fundamentally sound, that they are not in danger of going under. They’re not the best investments these days from the long-term standpoint going back. I think they are in good shape going forward."

Sure, the banks caused the ultimate meltdown with collateralized debt, but it started with Frank's letting Fannie and Freddie "roll the dice" with sub-prime mortgages.



Frank is considered a wit by admirers, others regard him as caustic and void of humility.  This week's issue of The New Yorker collected some of his mal mots.

• “It amazes me how someone from your newspaper could ask such a stupid question.” — to Jennifer Steinhauer, the New York Times.
• “What is this, some kind of idiotic contest? Most interesting? That’s idiotic. Ask me something substantive, and I’ll answer it.” — to Ryan Grim of the Huffington Post, after he asked Frank about the “most interesting thing to arise in an A.I.G. hearing.”
• “You’re stupid.” — to Margarey Egan of the Boston Herald, on some hundred occasions.
• “I hate your column.” — to Al Kamen.
• “We don’t get ourselves dry-cleaned.” — to the CNS reporter Nicholas Ballasy, who asked whether gay and straight military personnel should shower together.
• “I’m serious.” — to Jason Zengerle of New York magazine, after the reporter chuckled when Frank told him his question was “stupid.”
• “That is insane. The suggestion could only come from a demented, right-wing source.” — to Kerry Picket of the Washington Times, after asking if Democrats would delay seating Scott Brown. (Listen.)
• “My whole life, I never knew an adult who knew how to respond to that.” — to Susan Milligan, a former Boston Globe reporter, after she and a congressman sang “Happy Birthday” to Frank.
• “That is the kind of argument that people who do not have any idea what they are talking about like to make.” — to Lesley Stahl of “60 Minutes.”
• “You exemplify what I think is a change in the tone. You’ve managed to ask all sort of negative questions…. Congratulations. You’re four-for-four in managing to find the negative approach.” — NBC exit interview with Savannah Guthrie