Can We Impeach Barney Frank Already?

Pales in comparison to Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, WaMu, Wachovia....

Need I go on?

We put a tax cheat in charge of the IRS today. Let's not worry about $12M.

I dont think it pales in conparison. Frank is an elected official, obviously something stinks here.

NYC10022 - it was your party the Republicans that made this mess. Be a man and take credit for the policies of the party that you support. You and your party have devastated this country in entirety. Dont try to shift the blame and rewrite history.

At least the new treasury secretary is compatible with Charlie Rangel.

good 'ole' petrfitz is back.

Wow...i never realized how dumb some of you folks are...nyc10022 has too much time on its hands. admiral is probably only a seaman, spelt semen.

Sizzlack thanks for you and your party for creating this mess that will emascualte America for the next decade. Are you proud of the policies that you supported and their results? Or are you still trying to shift the blame? Be a man and own up to it.

"We put a tax cheat in charge of the IRS today."

If he had really wanted to cheat, he would have picked a different way. Not paying self-employment tax ALWAYS gets caught.

I really did miss your completely unhinged political rantings Petr. And I appreciate you trying to somehow blame America's problems on me, who didn't even vote in the last election. Congrats, you're fuc*ing nuts.

a tax cheat only steals a small amount of money within his own control. What about the billions that the Republicans and their buddies stole from Americans through banking scandals, unnecessary war profitering, weapon sales, oil gauging, etc,etc? Where is the outrage for these things? Oh yeah if there is an (R) next to their name it is OK to you....

Sizzlack you moron. You didnt vote in which election? Also you do realize that apathy is not good citizenship you tool.

I love how all I said is that the good ole Petrfitz is back and you've responded by blaming the economy on me, telling me I'm shifting blame (who's shifting what where?) and that I'm a moron. You sure do have this amazing knack at reading people through the computer.

> What about the billions that the Republicans and their buddies stole from Americans through banking
> scandals... oil gauging, etc,etc?

Wall Street donates more to the Democrats than the Republicans.

Whoops.

And if anyone things the $12 million Barney Frank brube is the issue, its not... its his willingness to throw the country down the drain to keep power.

ok then you are an apathetic ignorant who had a chance to influence one of the most pivetal elections in American History. what did you choose to do? nothing you chose not to choose. you chose not to effect history at all. you chose to be a sideline sitter and potentially allow great evil to continue. You should be so proud of yourself.

tim geithner is not a tax cheat, that's absurd. he made a MISTAKE on his taxes. he did not attempt to hide income or evade the IRS in any way. he corrected the mistake and paid his fine. in what sense is that a tax cheat?

sizzlack, your defense is that you didn't vote? umm, yeah, that does make you in part to blame. get it together.

fucking republicans. the worst president in modern history (i'd say second worst of all times, behind harding and nixon but ahead of buchanan) has been out of office for all of TWO DAYS and already you are blaming our problems on democrats. barney frank earmarked some of the bailout funds for a bank in his home state. stop the presses! this is just a bunch of nothing.

You do realize you look pretty stupid when you call me ignorant in a paragraph full of grammatical errors right?

I'd rather not vote than cast a vote for someone I find to be a horrible choice. If that makes you want to blame the economy on me, well if it makes you feel better, go right ahead.

nyc10022 are you out of your mind? you are going to deny a long-time alliance between corporate america--including wall street--and the republican party? yes, they donate to both parties. and right now, since NO ONE is donating to republicans, they may be giving more to the dems. but the republicans have been doing wall street's bidding for decades and to deny that is just moronic.

barney frank is willing to throw the country down the drain to keep power?!?! how about GEORGE W BUSH? jesus christ. this is a tiny little earmark, cry me a goddamn river.

nyc10022 loves to lie - "In 2000, Republican George W. Bush went on to win the White House after collecting nearly $4 million from Wall Street versus Democrat Al Gore’s $1.4 million. In 2004, Bush received $8.8 million, twice what Democratic Sen. John Kerry collected."

It is true that this time Obama had more contributions but that is an abberation. They knew that Repubs were done, they went with a winner this time. Besides the pigs who stole the billions didnt donate this time, they took their money and ran.

I think that anyone who voted Republican over the past 8 years and publically supported their disasterous policies should have to pay additional taxes to pay America and its citizens back. There are consequences to your actions. Something Republicans dont understand.

sizzlack sorry for the grammatical errors I am typing on my iphone while I get a massage. All of my excess is being paid for by the rent that morons like you pay me each month while you type on message boards about how bad real estate is an investment.

I hope that in the future that you will be proud to tell your grandchildren that when America was at a cross orads you chose to do nothing.

Nah, let's support good ol' Barney.

He's darn good news for folks waiting on the RE sidelines. The dude hates Wall Street and does Pelosi & Reid. I can only imagine all the good things this trio will bring to the financial sector.

unfortunately, petrfitz, the tax payers, soldiers, and common citizens (including democrats) are paying the piper for all the mistakes and greed perpetuated on us by the republicans. no consequences for george w bush and dick cheney--besides being universally loathed and destined for eternal infamy. they get to live out their lives rich and comfortable and free. these men are war criminals who did their best to shred the constitution. they should rot in prison.

happyrenter, I'm not terribly familiar with 19th century Presidents but what did Buchanan do that got him on that list?

of all the criminal, disgusting, abusive, inept, and pathetic governance of the last eight years, you start a thread over one $12 million earmark? pathetic.

Geroge W will go down in history as one of the, if not the, most socially and fiscally irresponsible Presidents in history. He has done more to advance the Democratic Party than any amount of fund raising or speeches the Dems could imagine.

Bush thinks eventually history will look kindly on him. History will show what a disaster a President with no managerial power or oversight can inflict on the U.S. economy, morale, and global markets.

buchanan ignored and then exacerbated the tensions over slavery, attempting in various failed ways to placate the slave states, and led the country into the civil war.

incidentally, he was by far the most qualified person by resume ever to serve as president, having previously served as a state representative, congressman, senator, ambassador to russia, ambassador to britain, and secretary of state. he was also nominated to a seat on the supreme court but he turned it down to serve as secretary of state instead.

interestingly, the least qualified person ever to serve as president (in terms of resume, that is) was our greatest president, abraham lincoln. lincoln had no formal schooling past elementary school, had served a few terms in the illinois legislature, and had served only one term in the house of representatives. barack obama--admittedly lacking the thick resume of james buchanan--is enormously experienced compared to lincoln.

$12 million compared to how many billions per week for the Iraq War, a war that was started over complete and deliberate lies by the Bush/Cheney crew.

Maybe our government and country could have weathered the housing buble/mortgage mess much better if we weren't financially over our heads in Iraq.

Does anyone know how many American lives and money the Iraq War has cost to date? I cannot even imagine.

I don't ever see a Republican being nominated President again in history. The Republican Party is done.

king I disagree there is much political power in hating gays and latinos, as well as, promoting that the rich should get richer so they give the rest of us some more money. These are platforms that resonate with Americans. The GOP will be back with even more hate and ignorance!

The Iraq war has cost so far...$590,488,664,525

I have a running tab on my dashboard.

When I got this computer it was at 411 billion, almost 2 years ago now.

yeah a number like $590,488,664,525 spent on a unneccessary war as well as the 1+ million innocents killed is no reason to get out of your chair and vote. Go job Sizzlack!

Petrfitz life is not like that stupid Costner movie where one person single-handedly changes an election. The fact the you can somehow in your warped brain blame the Iraq war on me really lets me know how unintelligent you are. But go ahead and keep on insulting me, it is clearly the only thing you are capable of.

that you can

Barney Frank and Chris Dodd were the leaders in the sub prime mess...Bush tried in '01 to curtail the subprime but backed away and Barney started screaming racism..Bush failed because he backed away but Frank and Dodd (who profited) were the real criminals.

happyrenter - I have to disagree with you on Buchanan as the worst, only because the march to civil war was going to happen anyway. Too many pieces to juggle and no one willing to stand-up and work out the problems in a productive way. It was just a matter of when.

No defense of Buchanan, though, he was a train-wreck. Nixon, a nightmare too. I give the nod to W, though, because he really didn't do one thing right. Not one.

Do you know how hard it is to screw-up every single thing that you are entrusted to do, get re-elected even though you didn't win the first time around, and then screw-up everything you are entrusted to do even more? It would be tough to do that much long-lasting damage if you were purposely trying to screw the country over.

Just a personal thing on the rankings for me. You are right. They are pretty clearly in the bottom.

Get ready to have Petrfitz call you all sorts of names now Julia.

republicans, democrats, they are all the same; in the pocket of wall street. what do you expect. our markets are one big ponzi, just like manhattan real estate.

"tim geithner is not a tax cheat, that's absurd. he made a MISTAKE on his taxes. he did not attempt to hide income or evade the IRS in any way. he corrected the mistake and paid his fine. in what sense is that a tax cheat?"

True. As someone who made the very same mistake my first year out of college, I don't see what the big deal is. As for Barney Frank, the impeachment call is pretty absurd. Politicians answer to their constituents and backers - I don't see how this is really newsworthy at all, esp in light of all the other issues going on.

And how many human lives? George W Bush actually has people believing that the Iraq War was defending America from its enemies. The war has created an even more powerful and motivated enemy than existed in Sadaam Hussein. Honestly, I don't know how Bush sleeps at night. He has the blood of all the American servicemen and women on his hands.

petrfitz, I disagree. I think after we go through maybe 2 years of tough times as a country and world, we will be much slower to elect a Republican President. Remember, he was able to convince the bible belt and Christian right that the Iraq War was God's work. I'm sure that people will remember that when they're having peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the 43rd night in a row for dinner.

and take it easy on sizzlack. New York didn't need his vote for Obama. Fortunately, our state will always go Democratic. If we lived in FL, OH, PA, VA each vote may make a difference.

"of all the criminal, disgusting, abusive, inept, and pathetic governance of the last eight years, you start a thread over one $12 million earmark? pathetic."

No, putz... this is just the straw that should break the camel's back. And its not the $12 million (which was not actually an earmark" its that the asshole is playing games with the recovery plan at the expense of america.

"nyc10022 are you out of your mind? you are going to deny a long-time alliance between corporate america--including wall street--and the republican party? yes"

No, I just know more than you. Corporate America is not wall street.... I'm with you on corporate america, but they didn't take down the system.

Wall Street... an AWFUL lot of blue in those parts. Perfitz might call it an "abberation", but its true.

Blue gets more Wall Street money than red....

And here is the difference... BUSH IS GONE. Great. I like Obama.

BUT FRANK THE SCUMBAG IS STILL HERE!

yeah you are right - no one person can make a difference. why bother trying. why bother trying to make a difference? its much better just to sit on your couch, and type on blog threads. Those are the things that really make life worth living. those are the things that can change the world. spending all day on streeteasy is jsut as admirable as voting. You should be so proud of your self Sizzlack. You are smarter than the rest of us who voted. Those of us who actually had hope and thought that we could change the country. Look what happened? no change. same old white guy in the white house saying the same old thing. America is no different. right?

"Barney Frank and Chris Dodd were the leaders in the sub prime mess...Bush tried in '01 to curtail the subprime but backed away and Barney started screaming racism..Bush failed because he backed away but Frank and Dodd (who profited) were the real criminals."

See, this is what happens when people don't pay attention and they let Foxnews rewrite history for them with a bunch of fancy (and completely inaccurate) talking points.

Julia, I will be polite and just tell you to go use the Google and eductae yourself before you say things that make you sound...ummm...trying to be nice....not so smart (whew!)

iamlooking, how is manhattan RE a ponzi scheme? in a ponzi scheme, you never own anything. It's just recirculating money scheme. You may say Manhattan RE is overvalued, overpriced, etc., but at least it's a real tangible event that is owned and not in limbo status.

Petr you need to slow down with the anger and read what I write. Here is my quote "ife is not like that stupid Costner movie where one person single-handedly changes an election". No where did I say no one can make a difference. Of course one person can make a difference. What I ACTUALLY said was that one person can not single-handedly change an election (and I meant Presidential). If you disagree with me fine I do not care but why do you get so freakin angry? You come off like a completely deranged serial killer. When did I ever say I was smarter than anyone else? Why do you constantly put words in peoples mouths and then yell at them for it?

Sizzlack, petrfitz is the hilarious creation of a tenement studio landlord on Pitt St, so don't let him get to you!

Now that we're totally off-track (esp from real estate), I'll throw this out there: I'll never say Nixon was a particularly great president by any stretch of the imagination, but he typically gets a worse rep than he deserves. You do realize he proposed a guaranteed minimum income for all Americans, right? That is a pretty progressive notion, esp for someone who gets reviled as one of the "worst" Republicans.

Julia I own a bridge on the east river. trust me when i say I own it. I will sell it to you real cheap. Dont listen to anyone who says that they have "facts"

It is also true that Bush tried to stop the subprime debacle. What could he do to stop it? he didnt have the power that Barney Frank had. I also believe when Rush tells me that Bush really tried to stop it but it was the damn liberal sodomites who overpowered Bush and caused the subprime mess.

bjw is the creation of owner a condo on a toxic waste dump and day dreaming that makes you a real estate investor. He also thinks that working in the health insurance industry is admirable, and gives you the ability to criticize Presidents and how history will view them.

julia, keep on watching fox news.

nyc10022, where do you come up with this stuff? THIS is the straw that should break the camel's back? i mean, was the camel's back not already broken? come off it. as for you claiming to know more than i do....evidence please?

waverly, i still put buchanan at the bottom because the crisis he bungled was so enormous. just like i put lincoln and roosevelt at the top because the crises they handled well were so enormous. but i'm sure if bush had been faced with bloody kansas and the dred scott he would have done just as badly.

nixon was one of the worst president's not because he was ideologically conservative. he was not ideological at all. he is one of the worst president's because in every circumstance he put his own political and personal interests above those of the country, and he criminalized large portions of the federal government for his own benefit. some of his policies were successful (clean water act, affirmative action, china) some were catastrophic (price controls, illegal expansion of the vietnam war) but with a paranoid criminal like nixon policies are beside the point. defending nixon is not going to get you very far bjw.

Sizzlack admires Millard Fillmore because he didnt try to do anything. He admired apathy and didnt bother to try. He got through his term without appointing a VP and dealt with slavery by appeasing both sides. Ahhh apathy....

Petr I think it's disgusting how much of a bigot you are. The fact that you would state that you not only wouldn't rent your apartments to Jews or African Americans is especially disturbing. What you are doing is called discrimination. You are a horrible person. Keep on bigoting it up on Pitt Street, you bigot.

Sizzlack - i see that you have joined the ranks of NYC10022 and resort to outright lies. Please provide a link that proves your statement. Also how do you know that I myself am not African American or Jewish?

petrfitz said, "NYC10022 - it was your party the Republicans that made this mess. Be a man and take credit for the policies of the party that you support. You and your party have devastated this country in entirety. Dont try to shift the blame and rewrite history."

uh, actually it was the liks of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd who voted to allow Fannie & Freddie to acquire subprime junk mortgages. This fed through our financial system creating this massive systemic risk. At the urging of industry folks like Countrywide's Mozilo. At the time Bush & Co, along w industry experts, lobbied vigerously against this, but the law passed anyway. And now we have to clean up the mess.

This is all well documented. But falls below the radar of public opinion because the average American doesn't understand what F&F do, they just blame whomever was in charge at the time.

LOL! Just giving you a taste of your own medicine guy. You see, you put words in peoples mouths and yell at them for it. I do not know if you are a Jew or an African American, JUST LIKE you don't know if I'm a Democrat or Republican, Independent or Libertarian. Just like you don't know what I do all day or what I might do to "make a difference". You get it now? Did it work?

happyrenter, read what I wrote - I'm not "defending" him, but I do think he gets a somewhat unfair reputation. And since when are policies beside the point? You should judge a president by his policies and effectiveness, not his personality. Let me reiterate - I don't particularly like Nixon either.

happyrenter - haha...good point! The 3 of them are usually the last picked for dodgeball, no matter how you rank them. Their difference in their suckitude is quite narrow!

Lincoln and FDR were the gems. LBJ could have been, but Vietnam was an albatross around his neck. That's what happens when you listen to bad advice. At least LBJ personally sibned every single letter home to the soldiers who died, unlike W. LBJ had a conscience, again, unlike W....or Buchanan or Nixon for that matter.

most americans don't understand that barney frank and chris dodd are the bad guys because the media refused to report on it. Now we'll read about how President Obama cleaned up the financial mess left behind by Bush.

no Sizzlack you lied. You admitted that you did not vote. So calling you apathic during one of the greatest elections in American History is not a lie, it is actually fair.

uptowngal/Julia - please stop posting. Pinning the lending crisis and wall street meltdown to members of congress whose party were not in the majority is just foolish. If the ship runs aground who is to blame? the captain or the pleb in the engine room? Republicans like to pass the buck and shift the blame. I can see where your allegiance lies.

I voted for Obama so this isn't politics it's truth...I hope he and the democrats will be able to clean up the mess they created.

Ok Petr. This is a lie too

petrfitz
about 1 hour ago
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Sizzlack thanks for you and your party for creating this mess that will emascualte America for the next decade. Are you proud of the policies that you supported and their results?

"Now we'll read about how President Obama cleaned up the financial mess left behind by Bush."

That's the most intelligent thing you have ever posted.

julia was it also the congress's fault for giving Bush bad intelligence on Iraq?

Julia, you are starting to shed more light on why you are single with no prospects on the horizon and unemployed. Intelligence obviously passed you by.

bjw,
i am not judging him based on his personality or his 'policies,' i judge nixon based on his CRIMINAL BEHAVIOR. you can't have a criminal in the whitehouse manipulating the federal government to commit vast crimes to serve his own personal and political interests. i don't care what your policies are, if you are massively corrupt on that scale you are a terrible president. but as i said, i also think most of nixon's policies failed, although certainly not has a high a percentage as GWB's.

julia, if you really think the democrats created the mess the country is in you are out of your mind. the republicans controlled congress from 1994-2006 and the whitehouse from 2000-2008. what levers of power do you imagine the democrats used to create all of these crises?

waverly,

one of the miracles of american history is that most of our presidents have been pretty bad, and yet the country has done well. it really is a remarkable system those enlightenment guys put together. thank goodness the founding documents were written by rational atheists and deists who were students of history and philosophy, rather than the hocus pocus crowd that has dominated so much of the subsequent 200 years.

Lincoln, FDR, Washington are the greats. Johnson did so much good but vietnam....

happyrenter - Yeah, it is not a list of home runs, that's for sure.

Every time a presidential term ends and a new president is sworn in I realize how great a system we have...flaws and all (and there are many). W was a nightmare, but his term ended and we have a new POTUS. No bloodshed (I know, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc, but you get my point), no revolution, just a new leader of the free world (whatever that might be) and then we do it all over again!

I voted for Obama...and being single...that was cruel and unkind...but if you knew the truth it would be very funny.

"Pinning the lending crisis and wall street meltdown to members of congress whose party were not in the majority is just foolish"

uh, petrfitz, the Democrats WERE the majority in Congress when they voted this action for Fan & Fred. This is a fact.

You're just stirring the pot and not adding any value to this discussion.

uptowngal,

what action are you talking about? the democrats were in the minority in congress straight through from 1994-2006. what action regarding fanny and freddy are you referring to? you say that "At the time Bush & Co, along w industry experts, lobbied vigerously against this, but the law passed anyway. And now we have to clean up the mess." sorry my dear, but the democrats briefly controlled the senate by ONE VOTE and never once controlled the house of representatives between 1994 and 2006. Before you start correcting people get your facts right.

TrevorF said: "admiral is probably only a seaman"

Why attack me? I've not even posted in this thread!

But if I WAS to post on this thread, i would say "Barney Fwank should be athathinated"

classy as always, admiral.

""nyc10022, where do you come up with this stuff? THIS is the straw that should break the camel's back? i mean, was the camel's back not already broken?"

Barney Frank is still in office, so, no, not at all...

> come off it. as for you claiming to know more than i do....evidence please?"

Sure, your posts.

> "Pinning the lending crisis and wall street meltdown to members of congress whose party were not in
> the majority is just foolish"

> uh, petrfitz, the Democrats WERE the majority in Congress when they voted this action for Fan &
> Fred. This is a fact.

What use would Perfitz have for a fact?

nyc10022, democrats WERE NOT the majority in congress at ANY TIME between 1994 and 2006. petrfitz is exactly right.

what was that about you knowing more than i do?

barney frank is one of the smartest and most effective M of C. i don't agree with everything he does, but to suggest he should be impeached because you don't think he should have helped one particular home state bank is just unhinged. why don't you give the democrats more than 2 days controlling the legislative and executive branches before you start blaming them for this situation.

No, genius, read the old Barney Frank threads. If you think this is ALL he did... again, back to that you not knowing enough thing....

Posted here 4 months ago... keep telling us that you know anything...

LICComment
about 4 months ago
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report abuse Interesting article on Barney Frank from the WSJ:

At least the Massachusetts Democrat is consistent. His record is close to perfect as a stalwart opponent of reforming the two companies, going back more than a decade. The first concerted push to rein in Fan and Fred in Congress came as far back as 1992, and Mr. Frank was right there, standing athwart. But things really picked up this decade, and Barney was there at every turn. Let's roll the audiotape:

In 2000, then-Rep. Richard Baker proposed a bill to reform Fannie and Freddie's oversight. Mr. Frank dismissed the idea, saying concerns about the two were "overblown" and that there was "no federal liability there whatsoever."

Two years later, Mr. Frank was at it again. "I do not regard Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as problems," he said in response to another reform push. And then: "I regard them as great assets." Great or not, we'll give Mr. Frank this: Their assets are now Uncle Sam's assets, even if those come along with $5.4 trillion in debt and other liabilities.

Again in June 2003, the favorite of the Beltway press corps assured the public that "there is no federal guarantee" of Fan and Fred obligations.

FANNIE MAYHEM: A HISTORY

Click here for a compendium of The Wall Street Journal's recent editorial coverage of Fannie and Freddie.A month later, Freddie Mac's multibillion-dollar accounting scandal broke into the open. But Mr. Frank was sanguine. "I do not think we are facing any kind of a crisis," he said at the time.

Three months later he repeated the claim that Fannie and Freddie posed no "threat to the Treasury." Even suggesting that heresy, he added, could become "a self-fulfilling prophecy."

In April 2004, Fannie announced a multibillion-dollar financial "misstatement" of its own. Mr. Frank was back for the defense. Fannie and Freddie posed no risk to taxpayers, he said, adding that "I think Wall Street will get over it" if the two collapsed. Yes, they're certainly "over it" on the Street now that Uncle Sam is guaranteeing their Fannie paper, and even Fannie's subordinated debt.

By early 2007, Mr. Frank was in charge of the House Financial Services Committee, arguing that he had long favored some kind of reform. "What blocked it [reform] last year," Mr. Frank said then, "was the insistence of some economic conservative fundamentalists in the Bush Administration who, to be honest, don't think there should be a Fannie Mae or a Freddie Mac." What really blocked it was Mr. Frank's insistence that any reform be watered down and not include any reduction in their MBS holdings.

In January of last year, Mr. Frank also noted one reason he liked Fannie and Freddie so much: They were subject to his political direction. Contrasting Fan and Fred with private-sector mortgage financers, he noted, "I can ask Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to show forbearance" in a housing crisis. That is to say, because Fannie and Freddie are political creatures, Mr. Frank believed they would do his bidding.

And this is exactly what Mr. Frank attempted to prove when the housing market started to go south. He encouraged the companies to guarantee more "affordable" mortgages, thus abetting their disastrous plunge into subprime and Alt-A loans. He also pushed for, and got, an increase in the conforming-loan limits to allow Fan and Fred to securitize and guarantee larger mortgages. And he pressured regulators to ease up on their capital requirements -- which now means taxpayers will have to make up that capital shortfall.

But the biggest payoff for Mr. Frank is the "affordable housing" trust fund he managed to push through as one political price for the recent Fannie reform bill. This fund siphons off a portion of Fannie and Freddie profits -- as much as $500 million a year each -- to a fund that politicians can then disburse to their favorite special interests.

This is also why Mr. Frank won't tolerate cutting the companies' MBS portfolios. He knows those portfolios (bought with debt borrowed at taxpayer-subsidized rates) were a main source of Fannie's profits before the housing crash, and he figures that once this crisis passes they can do it again. And this time, his fund will get part of the loot.

Happyrenter: "classy as always, admiral."

Barney Frank; Happy Renter. I get the connection now...

Barney Frank: "HappyWenta! How ith my old fwiend?"

Happy Renter: "Oh my gawd, Barney! The people I have to put UP with on that StreetEasy site!"

Barney Fwank: "By the way, Happy Wenta...don't eat the cwisps...they're de-hydwating!"

Barney Frank abused his position of power to steer taxpayer dollars down a black hole. He is not qualified or authorized to determine which banks should receive federal money. There is no argument that taxpayers have an interest in saving 1 small, crappily run bank that expenses Porsches for its executives. If he believes investing in that pile of crap, he should have done so with his own money. I'd love to see a bill authorizing the replacement of those taxpayer funds with Frank's congressional pension fund.

Bush and his cronies destroyed the Republican party with their warped agenda and crony politics. Now it's the democrats turn and that crook Barney Frank is getting them off to a good start in the malfeasance department.

back off here, people. you may disagree with representative frank here, but unless he is personally profiting from this, or directing funds to this bank for an expressly corrupt purpose, he has done nothing wrong. this is a matter of policy. congressman frank has no power to direct funds anywhere on his own--lest you forget, there are over 400 other congresspeople who have to vote, then the senate has to vote, then there is a conference committee, and then the president signs. at any of those stages this clause could have been removed. if you disagree with the policy, that's fine, but unless you have evidence that mr. frank is doing something corrupt here, dial down the rhetoric.

nyc10022, please don't try to educate me on the history of the housing crisis and of congressman franks' role in the regulatory history. i know it well. petrfitz and i were responding to a specific factual inaccuracy: that bush tried to regulate fanny and freddy but that the democrats controlled congress and stopped him. this is simply not true, as the democrats never controlled congress during his tenure until 2006, well after this supposed effort. if the republicans were so intent on regulating wall street, the mortgage industry, or fanny and freddy, why did they fail to do so between 2000 and 2006, when, aside from an 11 month period when democrats controlled the senate (but not the house) by one vote, the republicans controlled all 3 branches of government. it is plain as day that the republicans own this scandal. at least admit that you are wrong to keep asserting that democrats controlled congress at any time between 1994 and 2006. they did not.

admiral, if you were trying to prove once again that you have no class, you succeeded.

I am not so concerned about Geithner being dishonest or a tax cheat. He clearly is both and by his own admission.

The real issue (which gets smoked screened by the tax cheat and nanny gate nonsense) is his competence.

He has been president of the New York Fed and Vice Chairman of the FOMC since 2003. It was his responsibility to oversee the investment banks. Not only was he asleep at the switch in terms of policing the IBs he helped create the excess leverage through easy money policies at the FOMC.

Forget his honesty. Where were the questions about his role in creating this mess? In standing idly by for the last 6 years while our banking system went into the toilet? In keeping interest rates artificially low so that petrfitz could have his excesses?

The Treasury Secretary is supposed to be the key person we are all hoping will get us out of this mess. Not one of the chief architects of the mess.

Happy Wenta said "back off here, people."

WHOA! This little b!tch is giving orders. Why don't you take your attitude and stuff it where your good buddy Barney (and I don't mean Barney the Dinosaur) would stuff it...

see nyc10022, THATs the straw that broke the camel's back. i'm no longer reading or responding to admiral. i get it: you are a moron with no class. i don't need to keep seeing the evidence over and over and over.

jake,
he is dishonest by his own admission....kind of a strange formulation, no? usually dishonest people are dishonest about their dishonesty, aren't they? can you please show me the place where tim geithner admitted to being dishonest? as for being a tax cheat, no, he certainly never admitted that, and it would be absurd for him to admit it when it isn't true. he admitted making a mistake on his taxes. strange that you would first say that he is a tax cheat and then call it "tax cheat nonsense." which is it?

as for your substantive point, this is naturally quite complicated. i would much rather someone less involved with the policy decisions that got us into this mess. but given that the entire financial industry and regulatory apparatus was implicated, it's hard to see who would have the necessary experience and expertise but not the involvement. it's kind of a catch-22. do you have any names of people you would want in the treasury secretary job? personally, i haven't heard anyone mentioned for it who wasn't in one way or another part of the problem. warren buffett or jamie dimon, maybe, but neither of them would have taken the job, and volker is too old.

certainly we can all agree that greenspan, bernanke, bush, all of bush's treasury secretaries, all the major bank executives (with the exception of jamie dimon, who would have been my candidate for treasury but i doubt he would have taken the job) including weill, rubin, paulson, etc. are totally discredited.

happyrenter...I'm with you.

If you watched the hearing you would have heard Geithner say that he was made aware of his "error" by the IRS for 2003 and 2004. He paid those taxes but neglected to mention that he had made the same "error" on his 2001 and 2002 returns. He further admitted that only after the Obama team vetted his returns did he come clean and agree to pay the taxes he owed for the 2001 and 2002 years. After he was caught he admitted he made a "mistake". I myself think, that not being truthful, is the same as being dishonest. You happyrenter are certainly free to believe differently.

What if we all decided not to pay our taxes and waited for the IRS to catch us? Let's roll the dice and see if they catch us. And once caught we can all call it an honest mistake.

Steve Martin used to do a very funny sketch:
"Mr. Martin you owe the IRS $12mm dollars"
"Really, I guess I FORGOT to pay my taxes"

Geithner also deducted his kids summer camp as a dependent care expense. This goes to common sense and judgment. Are you kidding me? Chief Enforcement Agent at the IRS?

The "Geithner defense" of honest ignorance would cost you and me and any ordinary citizen a large penalty, interest and perhaps even lead to a criminal investigation for tax evasion.

Agree though that Jamie Dimon would be great.

The whole story of "we know Geithner's not perfect but we really need the guy" reminds me of Animal House.

"The issue is not whether or not we broke a few rules or took aa few liberties with our female party guests.... WE DID. But you can't hold the whole fraternity responsible for the behaior of a few, sick twisted individuals. "

graet posting...this is what i liked about streeteasy before all the "haters" decided to join in.

"this is what i liked about streeteasy before all the "haters" decided to join in"

You do realize they say that on EVERY blog in the world, don't you (hater = someone with a different opinion than mine)

Maybe nyc10022 should take this fight up with the citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts not on streeteasy.