Barney Frank

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Bailout Firms Lobbied Big Time for TARP Funds

Spending on charities, sponsored meetings topped $330,000

(Newser) - Several of the firms who would receive taxpayer funds from the TARP bailout spent money on meetings and charitable gifts that benefited lawmakers, the Hill reports. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, for example, donated $330,000 in the last 6 months of 2008 to politically affiliated charities. Bank of America,...

Congress Wants to Boost Fed's Oversight Role

But giving the agency power could stretch it thin, expose it to politics

(Newser) - The Federal Reserve would become more powerful under a congressional plan to give it increased oversight of banks, investment firms, insurance companies, hedge funds, and other firms that have enough economic clout to affect the entire US financial system, reports the Washington Post. “We need to give some regulator...

Pols Sending TARP Funds to Home State Banks

Frank, others pull strings for bailout funds

(Newser) - Only healthy banks are supposed to get TARP funds, and OneUnited Bank in Boston is not a healthy bank. So why did it wind up pocketing a $12 million infusion from the Treasury? Because powerful Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank interceded for it, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bankers, regulators, and...

Automaker Bankruptcy Would Be 'a Disaster': Frank

Debate rages on auto bailout

(Newser) - The CEOs of the Big Three are back on Capital Hill this morning testifying before the House Financial Services Committee, and Barney Frank at least seems sympathetic. The chairman said bankruptcy “would be a disaster,” given the current credit markets and today’s dire job report, adding that...

Barney Frank: At the Center of the Storm

Mass. congressman "vilified," but sticks to his guns

(Newser) - At the center of Washington’s financial crisis, Barney Frank has been called a “left-wing zealot”—but the congressman, while he’s admitted mistakes, has long been canny and courageous in his positions, writes Maureen Tkacik in Boston magazine. Amid much talk of the “moral hazards” in...

Dems: Obama Must Take Charge of Economy Now

There's no time to waste, pols warn

(Newser) - Top Democrats are becoming increasingly frustrated with Barack Obama's reluctance to take charge of the economic crises,  AP reports. The president-elect has consistently said it would be premature for him to dictate solutions to the auto industry's woes, and steer $700 billion in bailout funds, but critics in his...

Lines Keep Moving in Fight Over Online Gambling

Critics liken government stance to Prohibition

(Newser) - Can 20th-century laws designed to stop old-school bookies put the kibosh on the multi-billion online gambling industry? Anti-gambling crusaders say they can, and they’re doing their best to prove it. Federal prosecutors have used the 1961 Wire Act to shut down several huge operations, the Washington Post reports—but...

House Panel To Investigate Spitzer Probe

Dems wonder if feds' prostitution sting was politically motivated

(Newser) - The House Financial Services Committee is poised to open an inquiry into the investigation that led to Eliot Spitzer’s resignation, the New York Times reports, with Democratic members wondering aloud if the federal probe could have been a politically motivated hit job. The former New York governor was not...

Bailout Gives Barney Frank Star Turn
 Bailout Gives 
 Barney Frank 
 Star Turn 
Analysis
Nov 24, 2008 12:57 PM CST

Bailout Gives Barney Frank Star Turn

Expertise makes feisty Mass. Congressman key to handling financial crisis

(Newser) - Through decades in Washington, Barney Frank has developed a reputation as a brainy, if less than polite, liberal attack dog. It’s been a bumpy ride for the House Financial Services chairman, including implication in a male-prostitution scandal, writes Michelle Cottle in the New Republic—but as Congress grapples with...

Bailout Oversight: 'It's a Mess'
Bailout Oversight:
'It's a Mess'
Nov 13, 2008 8:34 AM CST

Bailout Oversight: 'It's a Mess'

$700B plan operates without watchdog as lawmakers spat

(Newser) - More than one-third of the $700 billion bailout package has been committed, but the program is operating without any government oversight, reports the Washington Post. The provisions intended to monitor the disbursement for corruption and waste are being overlooked, and no one has been nominated to the newly created post...

Feds Block Online Gambling
 Feds Block Online Gambling 
Nov 13, 2008 2:08 AM CST

Feds Block Online Gambling

New rule stops banks, credit card companies from processing bets

(Newser) - The Treasury Department and Federal Reserve will effectively outlaw most forms of online gambling with new rules that bar banks and credit card companies from processing transactions related to internet betting. The banking and gaming industry and House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank oppose the new rules, reports the Wall ...

Economy Is Democrats' Fault, But Media Turn Blind Eye

Newspapers aren't being honest about what caused crisis: Card

(Newser) - Mainstream media—aka the Democrats’ “public relations machine”—have fed Americans a “big fat lie” by ignoring the fact that this economic mess can be traced directly to Democratic policies, writes Orson Scott Card in Meridian. The crisis is “not a vague emanation of the evil...

Talking Heads Talk Economy
 Talking Heads Talk Economy 
TALK SHOW ROUNDUP
Oct 12, 2008 2:07 PM CDT

Talking Heads Talk Economy

Pocketbook issues seem likely to trump racism for voters

(Newser) - With little time remaining until Election Day, the Sunday talk shows focused on the ongoing economic turmoil and the racial issues roiling the presidential campaigns. Politico spins the dial:
  • On This Week, surrogates from both parties endorsed the Treasury’s capital-injection plan for banks. But guests split over an economic
...

O'Reilly Berates Frank in On-Air Shouting Match

Fox host, Mass. Democrat call each other names

(Newser) - Bill O’Reilly has called for the resignation of House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, so it was a predictably tense situation when the Massachusetts Democrat appeared on his show last night. A remarkable shouting match ensued, even by O’Reilly’s standards. The Fox host quickly began screaming at...

Pressure Shifts Back to Pelosi
 Pressure Shifts Back to Pelosi 
ANALYSIS
Oct 2, 2008 12:46 PM CDT

Pressure Shifts Back to Pelosi

Speaker, derided for partisan remarks ahead of first vote, gets another crack at bailout bill

(Newser) - After Republicans blamed partisan remarks for dooming Monday’s bailout vote, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is firmly in the crosshairs with a second chance coming tomorrow, the Sacramento Bee reports. But the Democrat isn’t backing off, a rep says. “Part of being able to deal with this crisis is...

Countdown to Failure: How Bill Unraveled

Stunned silence grips House after last vote

(Newser) - As members of the House of Representatives cast their ballots on the $700 billion bailout package yesterday morning—the negative votes piling up even as the market plummeted—the Los Angeles Times was blogging. Kicked off by Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's final words to the House—"The alternative is...

Shocked Legislators Weigh Next Move
 Shocked Legislators 
 Weigh Next Move 
UPDATED
Sep 29, 2008 3:12 PM CDT

Shocked Legislators Weigh Next Move

Discontent on both sides moved House to kill bailout

(Newser) - The efforts of Nancy Pelosi and John Boehner were not enough to quell a revolt within their parties that killed the financial bailout bill today. The bipartisan opposition to the bill reflected in the 228-205 vote—95 Democrats and 133 Republicans dissented—reflects liberal representatives’ unease with rescuing highly paid...

Rep Warns GOP Opposition Could Sink Bailout Deal

House conservative hedges on support for plan

(Newser) - Even as Washington officials reached for the bubbly, a prominent House Republican warned that GOP lawmakers may not approve the bailout deal reached last night. “We are not ready to say that a deal is done,” said Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, who has spearheaded efforts by House conservatives...

Dems Set Their Own Terms for Bailout Plan

Congress wants oversight of treasury, homeowner assistance

(Newser) - As Hank Paulson did the Sunday talk shows, Democrats in the House and Senate set down their own terms for a plan to rescue the nation's financial institutions—one that would give Congress greater oversight over the treasury. Barney Frank, who chairs the House Financial Services Committee, put forward his...

Congress Watches Uneasily as Fed, Treasury Move Boldly

Lawmakers complain of lack of oversight, being left out of loop as feds commit billions

(Newser) - Like sports fans second-guessing officials’ calls, lawmakers are watching uneasily from the sidelines as Treasury and Federal Reserve officials pledge billions of taxpayer dollars to fight Wall Street’s meltdown, the Washington Post reports. And, while many in both parties have been convinced the moves were appropriate, they’re worried...

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