Frankly Speaking, Gay Frank Screams About The Auto Bailout

In a 60 minutes interview with Lesley Stahl, Barney Frank, the Democratic congressman was asked what his thoughts are on the auto industry bailout. Frank responded "There's only one thing you can do in bankruptcy: break your word, break your deals. It allows you to say to the small businesses, who have been catering lunches for you, 'Sorry, we're not paying you.' It allows you to go to the workers and say, 'Sorry, we're not paying you.'"
Barney Frank has been called the "smartest guy in Congress" and his record speaks for itself. He is a 14-term, 68 year-old Harvard-educated chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. He is also a gay liberal who has never been known to back down from an argument.
During the interview he stated "I'm antisocial, there's no question about it. I think that I love this job. But the biggest problem is there are thousands of people in Washington who earn a living by trying to waste my time. They repeat themselves. They ask you stupid questions." Barney can be sharp-tongued: a master of the putdown, and a master of the dress-down.
He has been at the center of both the $700-billion dollar rescue for financial institutions, and the bailout attempt for the car companies that failed in the Senate.
Barney has been a major player in pressuring Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to deal with home foreclosures, and negotiating with the White House on the loan for GM and Chrysler.
Barney Frank may not be liked many Republicans or discrimminating Americans but he serves his position well and doesn't back down from expressing his thoughts and trying to do what feels is right for America.
Frank complains about a lack of leadership during the financial crisis. "Part of the problem now is that this presidential transition has come at the very worst possible time," Frank says. "We saw it coming. I don't know if there was any way to avoid it. You know ... Senator Obama has said, 'We only have one president at a time.' Well, that overstates the number of presidents we have at this time. We don't appear to have any."
You haven't heard the last of him about the financial crisis. It will be interesting to see how he deals with the new administration.