Posted by
Tony Sacco on Saturday, May 09, 2009 2:31:51 PM
PINE BLUFFS - Surely you’ve heard of Barney Frank (D-MA). He’s perhaps the Nation’s most prominent homosexual, who has served in Congress for 28 years. That makes me wonder exactly what the people of Massachusetts can be thinking, or if they're thinking at all: Teddy Kennedy and Barney Frank are returned to Senate and House, respectively, year after year, despite Kennedy’s Chappaquiddick, his unconcealed alcoholism, and now near-senility, and the bizarre, homosexually-driven, out-of-control behavior of Barney Frank.
As Congress grapples with solutions to fix our faltering economy, thrown into disarray by a socialist president touting “change” while skillfully concealing his real agenda from the American people, Barney Frank has quietly ascended to the highest positions of power.
Frank, Chairman of the Financial Service Committee in the U. S. House of Representatives, is playing a crucial role in determining how much of the bailout and stimulus money will be spent and what it will be spent on. That’s because the committee which he heads up oversees the housing and banking sectors, both of which are at the hub of the current economic crisis. But Frank’s power and influence extend beyond his chairmanship of the important Financial Services Committee. Ridiculous as it may be, this man has emerged as one of the heavyweights in the Democrat-led House and as such, will be instrumental in shaping its course and agenda. How’s that for an example of bankrupt leadership in the Democrat Party? Not to mention his “role” as a possible role model for America’s unsuspecting youth.
There are some who think that his behind-the-scenes influence exceeds even that of House speaker, Nancy Pelosi (D-CA). Whether or not this is so, there’s little doubt that Barney Frank is currently one of the most powerful politicians in the country.
Much of the content of this article did not originate with me. I have no information as to who actually wrote it, or where it originated. But given his present position of influence, like the original author, I feel taxpayers should know more about the background of the man who directs how hundreds of billions of dollars of their money is going to be spent. And given the audacious, breathtaking attacks by Democrat liberals on Miss California, for simply speaking her views, I think Republicans generally, and Conservatives, specifically, should declare “war,” and take the gloves off in defense of their issues, and the people who assert them.
Barnett “Barney” Frank was first elected to Congress in 1981 at the age of forty-one from Massachusetts’ 4th district, an extremely liberal area. Six years later he made national news when he “came out of the closet” and publicly declared his homosexuality. By that admission he became the first openly homosexual member of the House of Representatives.
In 1991, Frank received an official reprimand for reflecting “discredit upon the House.” The reprimand came as a result of his relationship with a man named Steve Gobi, a male prostitute whom Frank initially paid $80 for sex. Frank later took Gobi to live with him in his home, making him a personal aide. He paid him $20,000 in compensation (unreported to the IRS) and let him use his car. Subsequent investigation revealed that in the course of their relationship, Frank used his congressional office and stationery to fix Gobi’s 33 parking fines. Frank also used his congressional letterhead to write a letter of reference to Gobi's probation officer - it seems that Gobi was under court supervision as a convicted felon with a prison record - in which Frank gave false information. Most damningly, the investigation found that Gobi ran a prostitution ring from Frank’s Boston home, while living there. In his defense, all Frank asserted was that he knew nothing of Gobi’s illicit enterprise.
The Democrat controlled House voted 408-18 to reprimand Frank after a heated debate during which some Republicans demanded his expulsion. They pointed out that Frank's claim that he did not know of Gobi’s criminal activities was incredible to say the least.
Jeff Jacoby of The Boston Globe summarized their sentiments when he wrote: “Most pathetic of all was Frank’s claim that he’d been ‘victimized;’ that he was a just a ‘good little liberal’ who was ‘trying to help’ Gobi but got ‘suckered.’” May I point out that The Boston Globe is the most liberal newspaper in the country - you thought it was the New York Times, didn’t you - responsible for the current sad state of affairs in Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont, as well as Massachusetts.
Frank’s Democrat colleagues, however, insisted this was precisely what happened. During debate, his friend Tom Foglietta (D-PA) said, “Barney Frank is accused of being stupid and, my friends, if being stupid were grounds for expulsion, there’d be very few of us left here.” Although he probably didn’t stop to consider the full implications and accuracy of his words, this incident demonstrated exactly how right he was.
Whatever he may be, Barney Frank is not stupid. A former Harvard instructor, Barney Frank twice won the title “brainiest,” “funniest,” and “most eloquent” member of the House in a survey of Capitol Hill staffers. It truly strains the bounds of credulity that Frank, an accomplished congressman and a former Ivy League lecturer, could have been deceived under his own roof by a street hustler. Barney Frank demonstrated that he is an accomplished liar, but the Democrat Party, filled with many who do the same, does not mind, and even rewards it liars with committee appointments.
Next after Gobi, Barney Frank become involved in another questionable - and possibly criminally tainted - relationship with a man called Herb Moses. Moses, whom Frank referred to as his “spouse,” was a high-level executive at Fannie Mae from 1991 until 1998. Dubbed a “mortgage guru” by the National Mortgage News, Moses boasted that he helped develop “many of Fannie Mae’s affordable housing and home improvement lending programs.” But it was precisely these kinds of programs that ultimately led to the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market, the wiping out of trillions of dollars from the economy, and producing the economic turmoil that America now faces. Even though there were those warning against the precarious nature of the enterprise, Barney Frank - whose committee [is supposed to] oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac - kept resisting reforms and besmirching those voicing concerns.
When George W. Bush proposed that oversight of Fannie and Freddie be transferred to the Treasury Department, Frank strongly opposed the idea. He went before the cameras and claimed: “These two entities . . . are not facing any kind of financial crisis . . . The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing.” This was nothing more than pandering to low income blacks, hispanics, and others who were high risk borrowers, which most banks would have turned down for mortgages before the Democrats rammed through legislation forcing banks to make high risk loans.
Up to the day of their collapse, Frank continued to claim that the two mortgage giants were financially sound. If the Democrats were not in control, and if Republicans had any thing to say about it, Barney Frank would be hauled before a congressional investigating committee, placed under oath, and made to testify about his culpability in the current crisis. One question that should be asked is if his ‘romantic’ involvement with Herb Moses - as well as the campaign contributions he received from Fannie and Freddie - played any part in his shilling for these two declining institutions.
Commenting on his shenanigans, the same Jeff Jacoby observed that under normal circumstances Frank’s questionable relationships might have landed him in prison. (Wow! Does Jacoby still have a job with The Boston Globe?) Voters in his very liberal congressional district, however, have rewarded Frank with a string of easy re-elections.
In his public life Barney Frank is known as a civil rights hawk. A feisty liberal activist, Frank has poured much of his energies into the area of lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues. That figures, since he is, himself, a homosexual, and it makes me wonder exactly who his constituent base is. Just who does he represent? The people of Massachusetts’ 4th District or the homosexual movement.
One of his questionable achievements was the founding of the National Stonewall Democrats, a homosexual activist arm of the Democrat Party that brought under one umbrella previously unaffiliated LGBT clubs across America. Describing itself as “a grassroots force for social change,” (a la Acorn, perhaps?), the organization is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and oversees more than 90 local chapters. The organization’s website states that its activities focus primarily on “mobilizing the LGBT [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender] community to get out and vote on Election Day for fair-minded Democrats; and standing up when Republicans attack our families...”
As could be expected from the founder of the National Stonewall Democrats, Barney Frank voted no on constitutionally defining marriage as one-man-one-woman. During the debate he praised the “progressive” leaning of his own state’s body politic: “I believe the political community of Massachusetts is prepared to say, if two men love each other and are prepared to be committed to each other legally as well as emotionally, that is rather a good thing and we will say it is okay.” Need I point out that Barney Frank himself has had numerous “relationships” with other men, and it seems that ‘commitment” has not been a part of any of them.
In 1999 Frank voted ‘no’ on a bill that would have banned gay adoptions in Washington, D.C. Needless to say, Frank’s voting record has earned him a 97% lifetime rating from the ACLU.
Throughout his career Frank has pushed for the decriminalization of medical marijuana. He recently extended the scope of his efforts to the public at large. Last year he introduced a bill called the Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008, which would have removed federal penalties for the possession of up to 100 grams (3.5 oz) of the drug. Although Frank often talks about the “silliness” of jailing people for possessing small quantities of the substance, 100 grams is actually a large amount, which, by most accounts, makes for more than 200 doses. According to a recent analysis by High Times magazine, 100 grams of most marijuana strands goes for more than $1000 at street prices. Defending his bill, Frank said that it was “time for the politicians to catch up with the public on this.” Is he saying that that the vast majority of Americans smoke pot?
Or that it's a common thing for Americans to walk around with $1000 worth of cannabis in their pockets?
In 2006, Frank voted against the Respect for America’s Fallen Heroes Act, a bill aimed at restricting protests and demonstrations at soldiers’ funerals. The measure passed unanimously in the Senate with Frank being one of only three legislators in the House who voted against the Act.
In 2003 Frank voted against the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act, a brutal procedure during which a viable infant is killed in the birth canal by having its skull pierced and its brain sucked out. In addition, Frank also voted against the Unborn Victims of Violence Act and against the criminalization of taking minors across state lines by non-family members to circumvent abortion laws. Not surprisingly, Frank’s voting record earned him a 100% rating from NARAL.
In the area of national defense, Frank has for years advocated a 25 percent reduction in the overall military budget of the United States. Earlier this month, he wrote in a piece that ran in the Nation, “[I]f we do not make reductions of approximating 25 percent of the military budget starting fairly soon, it will be impossible to continue to fund an adequate level of domestic activity even with a repeal of Bush’s tax cuts for the very wealthy.”
He then challenged those who call for fiscal responsibility to first look “where our spending has been the most irresponsible and has produced the least good for the dollars expended - our military budget.” Never mind that our military is the strongest, most effective, and most successful in the entire world, and that the American taxpayer has received a huge “bang” for his buck.
Those who care about the future of this country should be greatly concerned that Barney Frank, a leftist radical who publicly flaunts his homosexuality, is presently one of the most powerful politicians in America. His recent actions and statements make it amply clear that he will seek to use his present influence to implement as much of an extreme agenda as he possibly can. Given his party’s hold on the White House and Congress, unwittingly provided by Americans who failed to pay attention and a media which invested heavily in removing Republicans from office, his efforts could very well be successful.
Anthony Joseph Sacco, Sr., a writer, licensed private investigator, author of two novels; The China Connection, and Little Sister Lost, and a biography, Echoes in the Wind, holds degrees from Loyola University of Maryland and the University of Maryland Law School. His articles have appeared in the Washington Times, Baltimore Sun, Voices for the Unborn, the Catholic Review, WREN Magazine and the Wyoming Catholic Register. E-mail him at anthonyjsacco@hotmail.com, and visit his website at www.saccoservices.com.