The news of Barney Frank’s retirement on Monday made the political guard at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) shutter. Ranking Member Frank would not be retiring if he thought he would be chairman again of the powerful House Financial Services Committee in 2012. As a key lieutenant to Nancy Pelosi, the liberal’s liberal Frank has been the poster child for a politician who has been in Washington way too long.
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Remember how he used his powerful position to help his partner get a job with mortgage giant Fannie Mae in the early 1990s? Frank, who infamously wanted to “roll the dice” on sub-prime housing and not “focus on safety and soundness” of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, was a key defender and advocate of the poor lending practices for home mortgages that led to the housing collapse and ultimately the harsh downturn in the United States economy.
The anti-business Dodd-Frank legislation that was enacted last year by a then-Democrat controlled Congress has only hindered any possibility of a recovery for America’s struggling economy. The Heritage Foundation reported that this misguided piece of legislation calls for 243 separate rulemakings by 11 different federal agencies. Talk about a legacy of big government for Barney Frank.
As President Ronald Regan said in his first inaugural address, “In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” This profound statement was right then and it is right now. Government has caused the economic mess that we are currently in thanks to the failed liberal policies of Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress, like Barney Frank.
It is no coincidence that since President Obama made the monumental mistake of signing the economy-stifling Dodd-Frank regulations into law on July 21, 2010, the national debt reached $15 trillion and unemployment remains stagnant at 9 percent. Most people don’t think Obama or his policies will fix the economy. Americans are realizing once again that too much bureaucratic regulation and government tinkering is bad for job creation and our economy.
Barney Frank’s resignation is a clear sign that reality has set in within the House Democrat Caucus that regaining the majority is just a pipe dream that the DCCC likes to talk about with its top donors. For as many seats as the Republicans picked up last year, there are several more out there for the taking in Republican territory. House Democrats face a daunting task because they will be paying the political price of having Barack Obama at the top of the ticket as well as for their decision to elect San Francisco liberal Nancy Pelosi as their leader once again. There are at least 27 House Democrats and 6 Senate Democrats in tough districts and states who will have to explain their “yes” votes for Dodd-Frank in 2012. This will be another tough election cycle for the Democrats and Barney Frank saw the writing on the wall.
President Obama and Democrats in Congress offer more of the same stale policies while our country sinks deeper and deeper into an economic abyss. Unfortunately, the next person in line to take Barney Frank’s spot on the House Financial Services Committee is ultra-liberal and ethically-challenged Congresswoman Maxine Waters, another defender of sub-prime lending. In 2004, she said, “We do not have a crisis at Freddie Mac, and particularly Fannie Mae, under the outstanding leadership of Frank Raines.” This head-to-desk appointment will only make matters worse for America’s economy.
As Charlie Brown would say, “Good Grief!”
