5 Responses

1. Emma L says:

   September 30 2008 at 2:09 am

   Thanks for your commentary Richard.

   Just a note — Barney Frank is a Democrat from Massachusetts– I wish there was a Republican voice saying this; the pettiness of blaming the no vote on Pelosi’s speech is maddening.

   However it is important to note that many Members of Congress have been overwhelmed with calls from constituents against the bailout. It is unfortunate that we do not have a president who can rally the country behind specific action to start dealing with this crisis (suddenly we remember the importance of electing leaders with good communication skills, nuanced thinking, and integrity….)

   It’s also important to stress here the differences between the American and British political systems — though Bush is a Republican president, he has very little credibility with anyone, including Republicans worried about their own political futures. The Republican Party’s divides and struggles for self-definition are playing out big time.

   p.s. Thanks for the light relief in your latest post — though even as I watched that sketch and other satire from Saturday Night Live, part of me is very very afraid.
2. Tax Research LLP says:

   September 30 2008 at 8:40 am

   Emma

   Thanks – I’ve corrected the post

   When I went to bed I realised this had to be wrong – he wouldn’t be a committee chair if he was a Republican

   Richard
3. jm says:

   September 30 2008 at 1:58 pm

   Barney Frank blocked reforms for years and now he tries to blame someone else. Pelosi let many democrats vote against the bill. It would’ve easily passed but she let her allies off the hook so they’d have an easier re-election bid.
4. Louis Hansell says:

   September 30 2008 at 9:13 pm

   166 economists, including 3 Nobel prize winners, wrote in opposition to this bail out. Many widely-followed blogs, including this one: http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/
   were vehemently opposed to this bill.
   Rep Frank was one of the members of congress most directly responsible for this credit crisis. He regularly opposed the reforms proposed by the Bush administration, reference here:
   http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E3D6123BF932A2575AC0A9659C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print
   In that article from the NY Times in September 2003 Frank insisted that reforms weren’t necessary, that Fannie and Freddie were fine, and that the loose lending standards must continue. He has zero credibility. Yet he still recently killed legislation that would end ‘seller financed down payments’, essentially because he has been in the pocket of the home builders and the GSEs.
   Only someone critically uninformed about this problem would quote Barney Frank without scorn and sarcasm.
5. Georges says:

   October 1 2008 at 4:33 pm

   Richard,

   In case readers need the original version of the post, click here