Rep. Barney Frank has admitted that he helped his ex-lover, Herb Moses, land a lucrative post with Fannie Mae in the early 1990s. Frank was, and still is, on a committee that regulated Fannie — but he called questions of a potential ethical conflict “nonsense, ” reports the Boston Herald.
If it is [a conflict of interest], then much of Washington is involved [in conflicts],” Frank told the Herald last night. “It is a common thing in Washington for members of Congress to have spouses work for the federal government. There is no rule against it at all.”
According to Frank, Moses "was hired to an entry-level position.”
Frank’s assistance in helping Moses land the Fannie position was first reported in a new book, Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption Led to Economic Armageddon by NyTi reporter Gretchen Morgensen.
In an interview Tuesday on WBUR’s “Fresh Air,” Morgensen said Frank “was very aggressive and really tough on those who were testifying in Congress about reining in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac” during hearings after Moses was hired. She said Fannie Mae “rolled out the red carpet” for Moses as part of a strategy to curry favor with Frank and other members of the Financial Services Committee, according to the Herald.
(HT2AngryTipster)
How very typical and sad that a member of congress would use the “everybody else is doing it” defense to condone unethical behavior.
ReplyDeleteHe and many other Congressional politicians in Washington should be members of a different federal institution: prison.
ReplyDeleteD.C. is a giant circle-jerk? Say it ain't so, Joe! But if we all keep our eyes closed we can imagine there's no one else in the room with us, right?
ReplyDeleteAnd why is this coming out in a book? Why can a newspaper journalist find this out but our government regulators are clueless? Goes to show you how all those regulations and investigations really protect the taxpayer. Its sad that most American's care more about someone scratching the paint on their car then constantly being ripped off by their government. Of course, why should they care? It isn't like they are seeing their tax bills go up for this. Instead the government will completely destroy their currency and then blame its lack of purchasing power on greedy speculators and manipulators. Sadly, the lemmings will buy it.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this info came to light in Oct 2010, would Barney still be in office right now ?
ReplyDeleteJust watch for MY chilling account, coming out post-mortem (naturally).
ReplyDeleteIt's called, "Feckless Embededness: How Incredible Sloth, Terminal Incompetence, and Fatal Incapacity to Ask Questions Led New York journalists to sleep through 15 years (at least) of Financial Shenanigans, and Wake Up Only In Time To Write Books and Win Awards"
Anon(s): Would he still be in office? You betcha! Bread and circuses are the name of the game. He provides both to his lemmings, err...constituents.
ReplyDeleteBarney Frank Admits Getting His Former-Lover a Fannie Position
ReplyDeleteYou said nothing about the consultancy at RCH-AROND
Headline seems appropriate for some reason:
ReplyDelete"Barney Frank Admits Getting His Former-Lover a Fannie Position"
Just sayin'
"...gets his former lover a fannie position..."
ReplyDeleteThat is the funniest thing I have read in weeks, maybe months.
Thanks, Mr. Wenzel, that was priceless!
jaydub
To say nothing of the entry level position. What ever that is.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous (who else?) says, "Its sad that most American's care more about someone scratching the paint on their car then constantly being ripped off by their government."
ReplyDeleteWhat's really sad is that there is a missing apostrophe in "it's" and an apostrophe that doesn't belong in "Americans." These are simple rules.