Barney Frank

Bernie Sanders On The Road To Being The Ralph Nader Of 2000! He May Bring Us Donald Trump And A Right Wing Supreme Court!

Ronald 26 Comments

It looks as if Bernie Sanders is on the road to being the Ralph Nader of 2000.

In so doing, he may bring us Donald Trump in the White House, which would condemn him in history, as Nader brought us George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, and the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina!

Sanders has failed to win more than a few primaries, mostly winning unrepresentative caucuses; is more than three million popular votes behind Hillary Clinton; and will not have more pledged delegates than Clinton, but he now says he will fight to change “super delegates”, who have pledged to Hillary Clinton, to switch loyalties to him, which will not happen. He is not lifelong Democrat, but rather a Socialist who was allowed to join the Democratic Party, and now is, seemingly, out to harm them for his own ambitions!

But what it means is that we will have division, dissension, and turmoil at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, rather than unity. Already, Sanders has demanded, which will not happen, to remove Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Congresswoman from Florida as the DNC Chair, and also to replace former Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Governor Dan Malloy of Connecticut as leaders of the Platform Committee at the convention.

Bernie now comes across as a bitter, nasty, crotchety old man who seems not to care about whether the progressive agenda wins, but only whether his own ego is satiated!

The Succession To John Kerry’s Senate Seat Becomes More Interesting!

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With Massachusetts Senator John Kerry about to be announced as Barack Obama’s new Secretary of State for his second term in office, attention is being paid more than ever to who will replace him.

Governor Deval Patrick will make a temporary appointment, but by late June or early July, there will be an election to finish out the term to the end of 2014.

Senator Scott Brown, soon to leave the Senate after losing to Elizabeth Warren, will certainly be the Republican nominee, but this time, unlike January 2010, when he won the Senate seat after the death of Ted Kennedy, it will be much more difficult for him to win in the very heavy “Blue” state of Massachusetts.

The rumors are flying that the widow of Ted Kennedy, Vickie Kennedy, who turned down the chance to run nearly three years ago, might now be interested. And also, Joseph Kennedy III, son of former Congressman Joseph Kennedy II, and now newly elected to Barney Frank’s House seat in Boston, could be a contender, even though only 32, but then Ted Kennedy was only 30 when he took the Senate seat in 1962. Any Kennedy running would be tough to beat.

But there are others also considered possible candidates, including Barney Frank himself, although retiring from the House of Representatives; Congressman Ed Markey, who has served in the House for 36 years; Congressman Michael Capuano; former Congressman Marty Meehan; and even Governor Deval Patrick himself!

One thing is certain: The replacement battle for John Kerry’s Senate seat will be fascinating and combative for sure, including a possible Democratic primary for the seat!

The John Kerry Problem For The Democrats

Ronald 2 Comments

The possibility of Massachusetts Senator John Kerry becoming Barack Obama’s Secretary of State or Secretary of Defense creates new problems for the Democrats in the US Senate.

The Democrats gained two seats in the recent elections, and would hate to lose one of those seats, which could happen if Kerry resigned from the Senate, and in theory, gave soon to be former Republican Senator Scott Brown a chance to vie for his seat in a special election, which is how he won the seat of Senator Ted Kennedy in 2010.

But the Democrats have two potential nominees to run against Brown, should Kerry go to the Presidential Cabinet.

One is Governor Deval Patrick, very popular in his second term, and someone who might like to be a United States Senator, and might even have Presidential ambitions. The second popularly elected African American Governor, he would become the seventh African American Senator, and the fifth by popular election.

But also, believe it or not, the new Congressman replacing retiring Representative Barney Frank is Joseph Kennedy III, the son of former Congressman Joseph Kennedy II, and the grandson of Robert Kennedy.

While he only takes the oath of office in January, the new young (32) Congressman with the famous last name could be the choice of the voters in the primary, bringing back a Kennedy to the US Senate.

While he has no real experience to speak of, young Joe could follow in the model of his great uncle, Ted Kennedy, who came to the Senate at age 30 untested, but ended up having a long, distinguished career of 47 years before his death in 2009.

Certainly, a Brown-Kennedy or a Brown-Patrick race would draw a lot of interest, and the odds of the seat of John Kerry remaining Democratic would be quite high, since Brown did poorly in the race against Elizabeth Warren, and has minimum funds left for another race in heavily Democratic Massachusetts.

It would be the first interesting political race of 2013!

Congressional Members Leaving Who Will Be Missed, And Those Who Will NOT Be Missed!

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As the lame duck session of the 112th Congress finishes its last weeks, one can reflect on some of the members who will not be returning, some because of defeat, and others because of retirement or resignation.

Some of these members made major contributions and will be missed, including:

Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine
Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut
Senator Herb Kohl of Wisconsin
Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas
Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts
Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio
Congressman Gary Ackerman of New York
Congresswoman Shelley Berkley of Nevada

Among those leaving who will NOT be missed are:

Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona
Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts
Congressman Ron Paul of Texas
Congressman Allen West of Florida
Congressman Joe Walsh of Illinois
Congressman Ben Quayle of Arizona

Altogether, 47 members were defeated; 35 members are retiring; and 11 members have resigned, including just today, Illinois Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr, who has serious mental illness complications.

A grand total of 93 members will have left by the end of the year, which means about one out of six members in 2013 will be brand new in Congress.

Congressman Barney Frank To Retire: A Major Figure In The History Of The House Of Representatives

Ronald 3 Comments

It is a well known fact that most Congressmen, members of the lower chamber of Congress, never become significant, well known, accomplished, and memorable in the long run of our history.

Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank is one of those exceptions, and he announced today that he was retiring after 32 years, 16 terms, in the House, from the Boston area.

Always outspoken and controversial, and willing to “get in one’s face”, Frank has his detractors who literally hate him, and his admirers, who love him, and consider him a giant figure in the House who has been trashed by conservative and Republican propagandists.

This author sides with the latter view, as Frank, despite being blamed wrongly by the RIght for the Great Recession, particularly in housing, actually set out to promote regulation of the financial industry, but was stopped by the Bush Administration from meaningful control over banks and corporations.

A lot of lying is going on, making Frank the villain, and a lot of it is centered, no matter what the critics say, on the fact that Barney Frank was the first openly gay member of the House, proud of his homosexuality, and not willing to be bullied by his critics, and instead willing to fight with words and actions!

Frank has been an inspiration to many people, and he will not be forgotten in history, but instead will be one of the most historic figures in the history of the House Of Representatives, almost as if he had been Speaker of the House!

The Menacing, Anarchistic Tea Party Mob And Capitol Hill Demonstrations Against Health Care Reform

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Today, Saturday, a day before the big House of Representatives vote on Capitol Hill on Health Care reform, the US Capitol and the surrounding House Office Buildings are being besieged by a mob of chanting, belligerent demonstrators shouting epithets at Democrats, including Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Henry Waxman of California.

These anarchists are causing some to wonder why the Capitol Police do not arrest some of the demonstrators as using inappropriate language, conducting themselves in a menacing mob like mentality, and making many observers wonder if we are going to allow a mob psychology to dictate what the US House does tomorrow!

The fact that GOP members of Congress, led by loony Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, have been encouraging lawlessness and open defiance by these Tea Party activists, is to be condemned, and if any violence occurs, those members of Congress encouraging this lawlessness and anarchy should be arrested along with the bums that are acting worse than animals, and measures should be taken to expel such members from the House of Representatives as having conducted themselves inappropriately and unacceptably as lawmakers!

The fear is there that we could see anarchy in Washington, DC if we do not establish that law and order will be imposed if the misbehaving, law breaking domestic “terrorists” that call themselves Tea Party Patriots do not start acting civil and decent in government buildings!

The right of freedom of speech and assembly survives, but not lawless, anarchistic behavior, which must be cracked down upon and punished promptly! 🙁

Hank Paulson Interview In Vanity Fair Magazine

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Hank Paulson, the last Treasury Secretary under President Bush, was interviewed by Todd Purdom of Vanity Fair Magazine over a couple of years, a total of eight times, and the material gathered was finally published today.

In the eight interviews, Paulson made it clear of his high regard for Timothy Geithner, his successor as Treasury Secretary, and Ben Bernanke, head of the Federal Reserve Board, who both worked with him during the financial crisis that broke out a year ago.

He also spoke of his admiration of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and Banking Committee Chair Barney Frank of Massachusetts, presenting a very different view of both legislators than is generally reported in the news media.

While certainly there has been criticism of Paulson and his two partners under Bush who now work for Obama, it is refreshing to see a Republican who worked with Bush understanding that the situation required massive intervention, something often rejected by conservatives and Republican operatives and misunderstood by many average Americans, who seem to think that doing nothing would have been a better answer. To believe that is totally ridiculous and a sign that many American are distressingly ignorant of the economic realities we face.

It will take time and patience to get out of this Great Recession, but we are on the road to recovery, and panic, hysteria, and anger is not going to solve this crisis.

Barney Frank And Jerrold Nadler: Two Congressmen Telling It As It Is!

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Congressmen Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Jerrold Nadler of New York are to be applauded for their reaction to the disruptive, mob like mentality of many attenders of Town Halls across the country.

Frank confronted a stupid woman who said health care plans of the Obama Administration made the President a “Hitler”, and that she was shocked that Frank would back Obama. How ridiculous, to say this to a gay Jewish man! So Frank let her have it, not acting like a gentleman, asking what planet she spent most of her time on! LOL

Nadler said that the loud mouthed, disruptive demonstrators at many town halls were facist like in their tactics, and to that, I say AMEN! Instead of having a serious discussion of health care, the purpose of many of these characters is to simply prevent any discussion, and destroy the purpose of the meetings. Widespread ignorance and prejudice has also been demonstrated, and Nadler rightfully condemned this mockery of public discourse.

I must say that I think Senator Arlen Specter, while trying to be gracious, should have been much stronger in his reaction to the insults visited upon him at several rallies in Pennsylvania in the past two weeks. The news channels showed it as it happened, and it was indeed a sad moment that we saw such disrespect for a public official, who no matter what you think of specific votes or statements by him over 30 years, deserved more respect and appreciation than he experienced.

It is important to have town halls and discussions, but only if there is order and respect by all sides. Sadly, that is lacking, and it will be a relief when Congress comes back into session after a very tumultuous August recess!