Barney Frank Will Retire From Congress <cite class="byline vcard">By Z. Byron Wolf | ABC News – <abbr title="2011-11-28T16:05:34+00:00">39 mins ago</abbr></cite> Click image for more photos 2 Email Print Related Content View GalleryU.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., greets supporters celebrating his re-election in … Barney Frank Will Retire From Congress (ABC News) Rep. Barney Frank, the first openly gay serving member of Congress and a powerful Democrat whose name is attached to the sweeping Wall Street reform bill, will announce today he doesn’t plan to seek reelection. Frank became the first openly gay member of Congress six years after he first took office, coming out in 1987 and breaking an important barrier in American politics. He survived scandal to become one of the most powerful Democrats on Capitol Hill during 30 years in office. The Massachusetts congressman chaired the House Financial Services Committee when Democrats were in the majority from early 2007 until early 2011, becoming the main House Democrat overseeing the financial industry during one of the most turbulent economic eras of U.S. history. Frank was instrumental in ushering the Wall Street bailout through Congress in 2008. And he, along with Chris Dodd, have their names attached to a sweeping Wall Street reform bill passed through Congress and signed by President Obama in 2010. Dodd resigned in 2010 rather than face a tough reelection fight. The Wall Street reform bill – known as “Dodd-Frank” – placed tough new rules on the financial sector as a way to avoid future mortgage crises. It also enacted a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to protect Americans from large corporations. The law has been pilloried by Republicans as Washington overreach. Frank is noted on Capitol Hill for his unkempt appearance, often untucked shirttails and pugnacious speaking style. He often dismisses reporters’ questions with disdain, has a quick wit, and is known to verbally joust with colleagues. He has not been without controversy. Frank admitted to paying a male prostitute who was living in his Capitol Hill apartment in the 1980s and servicing other clients there. Frank survived attempts to expel him from the House and stayed on to become one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington. He will discuss his decision not to run in Boston at a 1 p.m. news conference. Democrats do not expect to have a problem winning the district in Frank’s absence. Barack Obama and Sen. John Kerry both garnered more than 60 percent of the vote there in 2008. < geee he was chair of the financial committee, why doesnt he get any blame for our current financial disaster?>
The POS also kept pushing the Fannie May/Freddie Mac loans to the non qualified even after the "rupture" started. Then he was a major part of pushing the bail outs that we will never get back. IMO, he has vastly lined his pockets at our expense---just like the rest of the politicos. Time to clean house (and Senate).
Aww, don't feel so sorry for old Bawney. After all, he's gonna get a pension paid for by our tax dollars for the rest of his life since he's a retiring Congressperson with enough time in to be fully vested. It should be in the neighborhood of $85,000/year for the rest of his life. Oh yeah, his medical insurance and bills are also being picked up by us. Ain't we generous! Kajun
and those of us that spend 30 years doing real work have to rely on unions not changing our retirement contracts and the stock market not swallowing our 401k's as the saying goes, theres somethin rotten in denmark
No need to get 'vested' - Congress Critters serve ONE term and are 'in like Flint'. THAT is one problem with the broken and corrupt political system. Bawney should be castrated and hung in public. He's been crooked since Day One.
If you think his retirement will cause improvement in Congress, guess who's probably going to take over his chairmanship? .............Maxine Waters. Just when you think it couldn't get worse, it does.
Not only does he get a fat retirement check but a security job done on his home (if not already done), secretarial staff, and probably a library dedicated to him. All on our tax dollars. When President Truman left office he drove himself home--something has changed.
yeah, somewhere along the way we gave "our" employees the right to set their own wages and bennies seems to me we the people should be in charge if that
