Krauthammer on Barney Frank’s Retirement: “Most Important Thing He’s Ever Done to Prevent the Crash from Ever Happening Again Is What He Did Today — Retire” (video)
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on November 29, 2011
Congressman Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) explained his retirement in a press conference held yesterday
So, why DID Barney Frank decide to retire from Congress?
Rep. Frank’s explanations from yesterday’s press conference are examined by a Fox panel comprised of NPR’s Mara Liasson, Weekly Standard‘s Steve Hayes, and political analyst and columnist Charles Krauthammer.
Krauthammer doesn’t hold back on lambasting Frank’s under-reported involvement in the economic/housing debacle of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — he’s eloquent and magnificent, as usual.
The panel also discusses what Frank’s retirement, and other Democrats pulling out, means for the Democrat party’s efforts to retrieve House control in the 2012 election.
A portion of the transcript of the panel discussion, starting with Rep. Frank in a video clip:
FRANK: Since Paulson used the power in the bill I initiated and put them in a conservatorship, there has been no losses. The losses you read about are payments for things that happened before that. And since 2008 they have done a pretty good job in housing and have not, have not caused any losses. So yes, I was late in recognizing the problem, but it was when I was in the minority.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: Is he being too easy on himself?
STEVE HAYES, SENIOR WRITER, THE WEEKLY STANDARD: Well, certainly, he is. He is not only late in recognizing the problem, I think he did many things, perhaps with good intentions, to help create the problem. He was pushing lax lending standards. He was doing all of the kinds of things that set the stage for private entities to come in and try to compete with Fannie and Freddie in a way that I think led to the financial crisis of 2008.
There is a moment in Gretchen Morgenson’s book “Reckless Endangerment” where she describes a reporter going up to Barney Frank after a speech in March of 2005 and asking the questions, you know, what about the possibility that you could be pushing people into mortgages that they can’t afford and what would the consequences be? And he said rather flippantly, as he was wont to do, “We’ll deal with that problem if it happens.”
Well, you know, this is the kind of legislating with the best of intention and not thinking of the long-term consequences that I think will make the first line in Barney Frank’s political epitaph be the housing crisis.
WALLACE: Your take on Barney Frank?
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: I think that’s always true, remember him, the man who said, there is a quote of his on September 11, 2003, in which he said these two entities Fannie and Freddie, are not facing any kind of financial crisis. And then he goes on the offense for anybody who might imply that it was. The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we see in terms of affordable housing.
Well, it wasn’t affordable housing. It was unaffordable housing. And that’s what he was pushing and trying to deflect to those who were trying to reign in these entities. And of course, given the reward system in Washington, the man who was neglectful, at the least, on the way up is the guy who gets to be author of the bill that is supposed to stop it from ever happening again. I would say that the best thing, the most important thing he has ever done to prevent the crash from ever happening again is what he did today — retire.
WALLACE: Ouch. Steve, let me — I’m skipping Mara because she kind of got into this already. Barney Franks becomes the 18th House Democrat to not run again either through retirement, resignation, seeking another office. There are nine Republicans, 18 Democrats, nine Republicans. What does that tell you about how — or does it tell you anything about the Democrats’ view of their chances of taking back the House?
HAYES: Well, I think it does. I think in part that is because the 2012 political landscape looks a lot more like 2010 than it did like 2008. And you have this added difficulty for Congressional Democrats. President Obama has made clear that he wants to run against Congress for reasons that are understandable to all of us. At 13 percent or nine percent approval it makes sense. He is going to say, despite the fact I’m atop Washington, I am running against Washington and I’m not really like these people and all of these things I said about hope and change to rein Washington in, I couldn’t affect them because of the people in Congress. So I think congressional Democrats looking for a hand-up from President Obama are not likely to get it. He could actually have reverse coattails.
Conservative blogger/quipster Doug Powers at The Powers That Be always cracks me up. He had this to say about Frank’s retirement announcement:
Redistricting might have something to do with it, or maybe Barney just feels like he’s run out of segments of the economy to help ruin. He always said he’d quit the day it stopped being fun.
I’ll bet he lands a sweet lobbying gig with Fannie Mae. Early unconfirmed reports say Frank is quitting because he got his dream job with the TSA.
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