Barney Frank

The oddest couple: Foxx and Frank

bniolet — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:32:07 -0500

Ice may be thawing between U.S. Reps. Virginia Foxx and Barney Frank.

Foxx, as Dome readers know, is a conservative Banner Elk Republican who is prone to getting her name in print, on blog posts, in the punchline of late night monologues — you get the idea — for blurting hyperbole that tends to outrage the left.

And Frank is the liberal, openly gay Massachusets Democrat.

And so it's not too surprising that Politico reports that a few months ago, Frank got so annoyed with Foxx's endless questioning that he just walked out of a committee meeting.

This week, though, Frank and Foxx had some friendlier banter. We heard the conversation went something like this:

Foxx: "You’re looking particularly disheveled tonight."

Frank: "Well, my partner is the one who keeps me sheveled, and he’s been out of town."

(Please imagine Foxx’s reaction to that. Truly, it would have been priceless.)

Miller called "critical player" on finance

bkrueger — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 14:15:08 -0400

The Hill, a newspaper that covers Capitol Hill, has a brief profile today on U.S. Rep. Brad Miller of Raleigh and his role alongside Financial Services committee Chairman Barney Frank of Massachusetts.

Miller, a Democrat, isn’t one of the House’s better-known members, but as The Hill says, he has “become a critical player” in the ongoing battles in Congress between consumers and financial institutions, reports Barb Barrett.

The Hill reports:

While Miller has had a hand already in a broad range of housing and mortgage lending issues, his most critical work this year will come as Congress debates setting up a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency to oversee products like mortgage loans and credit cards.

U.S. House passes lending bill

bniolet — Fri, 08 May 2009 15:56:00 -0400

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed the anti-predatory lending bill by U.S. Reps. Mel Watt of Charlotte and Brad Miller of Raleigh.

The bill, HR 1728 would tighten regulations and require lenders to have proof that borrowers could actually repay their mortgages, Barb Barrett reports. The bill would also require that refinanced mortgages show an actual financial benefit to borrowers.

The legislation is aimed to prevent the surge of shady lending that took place in the runup to the current housing crisis.

The vote in the House on Thursday was 300-114.

In North Carolina, the state’s Democrats were joined in “yes” votes by Republican Rep. Walter Jones.

Republicans Howard Coble, Virginia Foxx, Patrick McHenry and Sue Myrick voted no.

The bill passed the House last Congress as well, but never got anywhere in the Senate. This year, it again goes to the Senate with an uncertain future, as there is no companion legislation.

But U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House financial services committee, told reporters he believes Democrats’ stronger majority in the Senate this year will give them the thrust to push the bill through.

Boos for Barney Frank

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:07:26 -0400

The crowd gave a big boo to Rep. Barney Frank.

At a rally in Fayetteville today, John McCain mentioned the Massachusetts Democrat while talking about the recent bailout bill.

The crowd interrupted to boo Frank, making Xs with their inflatable red noisemakers.

Walter Jones' lines

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 16:45:30 -0500

U.S. Rep. Walter Jones is a meaty part.

The Farmville Republican is listed fifth among the cast of characters in the draft of a play about the impeachment of President Bush. The playwrights describe him as a "softspoken, passive-aggressive Southerner."

He and Democratic Rep. Jerrold Nadler serve as assistant prosecutors in the fictional trial, while Rep. Barney Frank is the lead prosecutor.

In the play, the Jones character questions CIA director Michael Hayden, former counterterrorist agent Michael Scheuer and former U.S. Justice Department legal counsel John Yoo.

In the fictional dialogue, Jones asks whether Al Qaeda is a greater threat than Nazi Germany, quotes James Madison as saying "perpetual warfare" is not reconcilable with freedom and says "extraordinary rendition" sets a bad precedent internationally.

Screenwriter Richard Lasser said he based a lot of the dialogue on an hourlong meeting with Jones, but he does not quote him verbatim. He said he also wanted the play to be interesting.

"We're trying to entertain people first and foremost," he said.

Letter from Washington

ryanteaguebeckwith — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 14:19:27 -0400

WASHINGTON, ON THE COUCH, TUNED TO C-SPAN, 12:01 a.m. — It's getting on past midnight here in the cradle of democracy, where it appears the partisans have taken hold of Rep. David Price's moment in the sun and cast a long, dark cloud across it.

Ten hours into the debate on the 2008 Homeland Security spending bill (which, by the way, is a relatively non-controversial piece of work likely to pass a full House vote later today or Thursday just fine), and the talk is not about border fences or airport screeners, but about hidden earmarks, shirked responsibility and which political party cares more about the American People.

Republicans threatened to stall the appropriations process. And they have.

To keep reading N&O reporter Barb Barrett's letter from Washington, click below.

Red-meat Republican

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 08:57:02 -0400

U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry is a political carnivore, some observers say.

After a contentious Republican primary win, he went on the attack in office, defending Tom DeLay and attacking Nancy Pelosi, the Char-O reports.

"They turn repeatedly to McHenry because he'll give them red meat," Arrington says of the media and the national GOP. "He's viewed by the Democrats as outrageous and by the Republicans as just great, 'give them hell, McHenry.' "

On the House Financial Services Committee, he frequently spars with chairman Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat.

As the youngest of five children, McHenry says his feistiness is just part of his personality.

Video of McHenry arguing with Frank over parliamentary procedure after the jump.