Barney Frank, should be...

[GHook93]

...immediately kicked out of Congress, brought up on charges of corruption and since his corruption has out the whole country at risk he should addition be brought up on treason charges, then we should toss him in a max security prison, where he becomes a favor in the showers!

Why do I say this? I can already hear the response, this is neo-con GHook and his rightwing attack on a liberal douc%*bag, who even sounds like an a$$hole (OK you might leave off the last part)!

Why am I so angry? Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have helped kill America! This scum of the earth, sold America out them. For the very very very very very generous campaign contribution, numnutz did everything he could to protect FM & FM! He did so in a disguise of providing affordable housing for all (a paradox itself)! In reality he did it to get the campaign dollars he needed in order to get elected (and he needed every dollar he could get since he when he talks he sounds like a complete a$$hole). This is also a true testament to how stupid the liberals in MA are. How could a moron like Barney Dumba$$ get elected to anything to anything!

His protection of FM & FM for campaign contribution amounts to nothing less than bribery and corruption. It is so devastating that it even amounts to treason!

To hear this A$$HOLE take a cheap shot at McCain for doing what he can to help solve the economic crisis makes me so mad. How can a guy like Frank have the ballz to say anything when he is one of the main reasons for the mess. McCain on the other hand tried to prevent FM & FM from getting as large as they became back in I think 2002!

Barney Frank has to be glad he is not a politician in Russia or China, because they would have already taken him out in the back alley and shot him!

Barney's Rubble - WSJ.com

But on the threshold reform issue -- limiting the size of the portfolios of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) that the two companies could hold -- Mr. Frank was a stalwart opponent. In fact, Mr. Frank was publicly arguing for an increase in the size of their combined $1.4 trillion portfolios right up to the day they were bailed out. Even now, after he's been proven wrong about a taxpayer guarantee, he opposes Treasury's planned reduction in the size of the portfolios starting in 2010, according to a quote attributed to him in this newspaper last week. "Good luck on that," he reportedly said. For years, Mr. Frank and other friends of Fan and Fred opposed not only bills written to limit the size of their portfolios, but any bill that in their view gave an independent regulator too much discretion to order a reduction. This was true of the reform that his House committee passed last year. Only when the White House caved to Mr. Frank and dropped its earlier insistence that a reform bill rein in the portfolios did Mr. Frank move his bill. In his letter, Mr. Frank also repeats his familiar claim that Fannie and Freddie are vital because they support "affordable housing." This is political smoke. The awful irony of Fan and Fred is that they have done very little to assist affordable housing. Most of the taxpayer subsidy has gone to enrich shareholders and Fannie managers, as a 2003 study by the Federal Reserve shows.

[xyzer]

I agree with you GHooks93!!!!

Frank and Sen Dodd are two useless hunks of political opportunism. Both have used their positions and influence to let FM and FM fleece the government and probably to line their pockets. Both have helped beat back attempts to reform the open door to bad loans backed by the government.

These legislators have helped get us into the financial tangle and certainly blocked attempts at reform. Now they rave about using almost a quarter trillion worth of tax payers dollars to reform the beast they helped create and nurture? They blame the opposition and the President for a lack of action and yet they blocked any attempts at reform repeatedly over the years...

[GHook93]

Quote by: xyzer I agree with you GHooks93!!!! Frank and Sen Dodd are two useless hunks of political opportunism. Both have used their positions and influence to let FM and FM fleece the government and probably to line their pockets. Both have helped beat back attempts to reform the open door to bad loans backed by the government.

There is no maybe to it. Frank lined his pockets with the FM and FM blood money! Then is has the nallz to blast McCain via a highly classless shot in the media. Word to the man that talks like a flaming h#m#, McCain tried to stop your allies reign of finance terror. In essence he tried to stop you and your corruption. You deserve jail and I can't believe the media is once against giving him a pass!

These legislators have helped get us into the financial tangle and certainly blocked attempts at reform. Now they rave about using almost a quarter trillion worth of tax payers dollars to reform the beast they helped create and nurture? They blame the opposition and the President for a lack of action and yet they blocked any attempts at reform repeatedly over the years...

Many like McCain tried to kill the beast, but Fat Cats like Barney Frank gave FM/FM all the protection they needed!

[GHook93]

The D%$che-bag is still not taking credit for the unregulated fannie mae and freddie mac meltdown. This a$$hole lined his pockets to protect a company that has caused the worse economy since the depression.

If there is any justice in the US then Frank would be immediately kicked out of Congress and put on trial for corruptions. Made an example of and sent to a max security prison where his butt-hole will get a work-out!

How is this man not in jail? At the very least can you MA get a brain vote his a$$ out of Congress?

Even you liberals have to be angry!

Newsmax.com – Barney Frank: Housing Attacks Racially Motivated

Barney Frank: Housing Attacks Racially Motivated Tuesday, October 7, 2008 11:25 AM BOSTON -- Rep. Barney Frank said Monday that Republican criticism of Democrats over the nation's housing crisis is a veiled attack on the poor that's racially motivated. The Massachusetts Democrat, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said the GOP is appealing to its base by blaming the country's mortgage foreclosure problem on efforts to expand affordable housing through the Community Reinvestment Act. He said that blame is misplaced, because those loans are issued by regulated institutions, while far more foreclosures were triggered by high-cost loans made by unregulated entities. "They get to take things out on poor people," Frank said at a mortgage foreclosure symposium in Boston. "Let's be honest: The fact that some of the poor people are black doesn't hurt them either, from their standpoint. This is an effort, I believe, to appeal to a kind of anger in people." Frank also dismissed charges the Democrats failed on their own or blocked Republican efforts to rein in the mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The federal government recently took control of both entities.

[lsbskins1]

It would help if you guys understood the real problem. 20 Fannie Mae and Freddie Macs could have failed in an honest market and we would be hurting some, but ok. The problem is not the 6% of morgages that failed, the problem is that banks and Wall Street firms sold lottery tickets (credit swaps) on those morgages and on many companies who held those morgages. To drive revenue, AIG and others essentially sold insurance policies on those morgages to hundreds of different people, so that when 1 morgage failed, they owed the estimated value of the home, in full, to hundreds of different people. And despite the fact that Democrats tried from 2001 on to pass laws to regulate that practice, the republicans blocked those efforts over and over. So blaming the home owner who defaulted on a loan for this mess is like blaming a losing horse for the hundreds of rent payments that gamblers lost on the race and/or blaming the horse for all the subsequent eviction notices.

[maximdewinter]

Quote by: lsbskins1 It would help if you guys understood the real problem. 20 Fannie Mae and Freddie Macs could have failed in an honest market and we would be hurting some, but ok. The problem is not the 6% of morgages that failed, the problem is that banks and Wall Street firms sold lottery tickets (credit swaps) on those morgages and on many companies who held those morgages. To drive revenue, AIG and others essentially sold insurance policies on those morgages to hundreds of different people, so that when 1 morgage failed, they owed the estimated value of the home, in full, to hundreds of different people. And despite the fact that Democrats tried from 2001 on to pass laws to regulate that practice, the republicans blocked those efforts over and over. So blaming the home owner who defaulted on a loan for this mess is like blaming a losing horse for the hundreds of rent payments that gamblers lost on the race and/or blaming the horse for all the subsequent eviction notices.

Let me take this opportunity to agree with Isbskins1. And with GHook. Because there is no exclusivity for passing blame around. You could start with the Republicans overwhelmingly voting to overturn safeguard regulations put into effect during the Depression which allowed lines to blur between investment and commerical banking. Then you can blame the Democrats for allowing the criminal "cookie jar" withdrawals from Fannie Mae ( the politcal weakness of regulators to stop it.) Add in George Bush who constantly crowed about the increases in "minority home ownership" throughout this decade without scratching too deep to find that affordable housing actually meant taxpayer subsidized housing. Blame Wall street for dreaming up these derivatives like the Credit Default Swaps and the SEC for not cracking down on these "creative instruments." (Warren Buffet called these creative monsters financial "weapons of mass destruction" and neither Congress nor the White House wanted to poop the party uncorked by these creative instruments.) Blame Alan Greenspan who praised these instruments and also allowed the housing price balloon to inflate thanks to way-low interest rates and a flood of money. Blame the American people for their inability to save and instead ride the wave of borrowed cash from foreign investors. Blame the borrowers who didn't know what they could afford and what they couldn't and the "fast buck house flippers" who turned the housing market into a casino.

But no one will ever pay for their mistakes (except the taxpayers and their children and grandchildren.) Economics as a high school course is only required in 17 of the 50 states and there has been precious little effort in the past 25 years to change that. What this means is that there will be very few people who will even understand what hit them becasue of the multi layered complexity of this problem. That makes this issue a breeding ground for politics not solutions.

IMO there is only one candidate who gets the economics of it...Ron Paul. He has seen this meltdown coming for years.

YouTube - 2 Ron Paul on Glenn Beck 04 01 2008

[Dan_77]

Quote by: maximdewinter IMO there is only one candidate who gets the economics of it...Ron Paul. He has seen this meltdown coming for years. YouTube - 2 Ron Paul on Glenn Beck 04 01 2008

Except for his constant pleading for the gold standard, which would be worse.

Anyway, there is plenty of blame to spread around. Barney Frank certainly isn't the only, or even the primary, place upon where the blame sits.

BTW, Warren Buffet agrees with Ibskins - and he just might know a thing or two about the financial markets.

[GHook93]

Quote by: maximdewinter Let me take this opportunity to agree with Isbskins1. And with GHook. Because there is no exclusivity for passing blame around. You could start with the Republicans overwhelmingly voting to overturn safeguard regulations put into effect during the Depression which allowed lines to blur between investment and commerical banking. Then you can blame the Democrats for allowing the criminal "cookie jar" withdrawals from Fannie Mae ( the politcal weakness of regulators to stop it.) Add in George Bush who constantly crowed about the increases in "minority home ownership" throughout this decade without scratching too deep to find that affordable housing actually meant taxpayer subsidized housing. Blame Wall street for dreaming up these derivatives like the Credit Default Swaps and the SEC for not cracking down on these "creative instruments." (Warren Buffet called these creative monsters financial "weapons of mass destruction" and neither Congress nor the White House wanted to poop the party uncorked by these creative instruments.) Blame Alan Greenspan who praised these instruments and also allowed the housing price balloon to inflate thanks to way-low interest rates and a flood of money. Blame the American people for their inability to save and instead ride the wave of borrowed cash from foreign investors. Blame the borrowers who didn't know what they could afford and what they couldn't and the "fast buck house flippers" who turned the housing market into a casino. But no one will ever pay for their mistakes (except the taxpayers and their children and grandchildren.) Economics as a high school course is only required in 17 of the 50 states and there has been precious little effort in the past 25 years to change that. What this means is that there will be very few people who will even understand what hit them becasue of the multi layered complexity of this problem. That makes this issue a breeding ground for politics not solutions. IMO there is only one candidate who gets the economics of it...Ron Paul. He has seen this meltdown coming for years. YouTube - 2 Ron Paul on Glenn Beck 04 01 2008

Great analogy of the blame, bravo!

However, won't Ron Paul completely deregulate stock market allowing for possibly greater corruption. In this case I am thing the uninhabited free market principle might not be so ideal!

[jb_1430]

Quote by: lsbskins1 It would help if you guys understood the real problem. 20 Fannie Mae and Freddie Macs could have failed in an honest market and we would be hurting some, but ok.

Fannie and Freddie was at the forefront and dominated the market for securitization of mortages

Press reports on securitization of subprime loans in 2006 revealed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are major financiers of subprime loans through purchase of MBS. In 2004 [SIZE=1]the two GSEs purchased 44% of the $401 billion of securities backed by private label, subprime mortgages, http://www.house.gov/apps/list/heari..._testimony.pdf

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac now overwhelmingly dominate it, handling more than 80 percent of all mortgages bought by investors in the first quarter of this year. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/bu...er&oref=slogin

Quote by: lsbskins1 And despite the fact that Democrats tried from 2001 on to pass laws to regulate that practice, the republicans blocked those efforts over and over. So blaming the home owner who defaulted on a loan for this mess is like blaming a losing horse for the hundreds of rent payments that gamblers lost on the race and/or blaming the horse for all the subsequent eviction notices.

Im not aware of any efforts by Democrats to regulate credit default swaps. Can you be specific? And who is blaming the homeeowners?

[lsbskins1]

Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia -

The history of this is obvious. HR 4577 contained multiple appropriations bills and at least one time bomb, HR 5660. It's an example of the stupid games the republicans played, attaching these kind of deregulations on to necessary appropriation bills, so that others have little choice but to vote for them so that you don't have to cut off Treasury, HHS, SCHIP, and legislative appropriations. So, Clinton signs HR 4577, and the Democrats introduce bills trying to get rid of HR 5660 over the years, and are voted down repeatedly by the "fundemental deregulators". Even after, I might add, the Enron mess pointed the potential problem out. Bush even vetoed in 2008. But - BECAUSE THE DEMOCRATS HAD RETAKEN CONTROL, they had the ability to get this stuff out of comittee, and ask for an honest vote, so they were able to over-ride the veto. Too little, too late, but not because they did not try over the years.

And Sean Hannity, et al, are blaming the homeowners by implying that if we hadn't "relaxed the rules" on minority buyers, we would not be in this mess. Own 'em if they represent your side.

[xyzer]

Come on Max don't start the indirect consequences brouhaha. The Affordable Housing Scam dates only back to the late Clinton Administration. Yes these government subsidized corporations were extablished in late depression days but they didn't start bundling bad loans until much later.
This from Wikipedia

Concerns with business and accounting practices at Fannie Mae predate the scandal itself. On June 15, 2000, the House Banking Subcommittee On Capital Markets, Securities And Government Sponsored Enterprises held hearings on Fannie Mae [5]. On December 18, 2006, U.S. regulators filed 101 civil charges against chief executive Franklin Raines; chief financial officer J. Timothy Howard; and the former controller Leanne G. Spencer. The three are accused of manipulating Fannie Mae earnings to maximize their bonuses. The lawsuit sought to recoup more than $115 million in bonus payments, collectively accrued by the trio from 1998–2004, and about $100 million in penalties for their involvement in the accounting scandal.

The very fact these two entities were government subsidized lent them credence in the mortgage loan business. Raines and company really started ripping off the corporations(to the tune of Millions of $s) and profiting from actions of Congress during previous administrations.encouragement to put more people into the home ownership category.i.e. bonuses for greater loan volume.Bundling bad risk loans with good risk loans and rendering them as government OKd?.Raines is even on Obamas campaign committee? If Obama wins will he be in the Cabinet? How about as Sec of the Treasury?

Several Years back (2004) the House held hearings on the ascending scam. There are video clips from the hearings that show some Repubs warning the House and looking for oversight but these same clips show Rep Frank, Waters., Meeks and Davis(among others) saying there was no problem. Meeks even publicly castigates a so called regulator and comments he is "pissed Off" about trying to regulate these two honorable corporations?
It turns out that many members of the House(Repub and Democrat) got contributions from Fannie Mae? And many House members had purchased shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Conflict of interest? I'd say so, wouldn't you.
I challenge your attempt to pass the blame around? The crash could have been prevented in 2004/2006 when the problem was discussed in our law making body. A sufficient number of thes crooks ducked it and assured us all things were fine. Then the housing slump of 2007 blew the scam wide open. The blame is easily fixed, isn't it?
Check out this letter signed by John McCain giving ample warning of what might happen unless congress acted. Notice no Democrat was involved.McCain Letter Demanded 2006 Action on Fannie and Freddie - HUMAN EVENTS

[Sonart]

.

Quote by: GHook ...immediately kicked out of Congress, brought up on charges of corruption and since his corruption has out the whole country at risk he should addition be brought up on treason charges, then we should toss him in a max security prison, where he becomes a favor in the showers!

That's a lot of thunder and fury, but naaahhh... that's for people who actually commit crimes.

Lke Denny Hastert, Tom DeLay, Duke Cunningham, Larry Craig, Scooter Libby, Paul Wolfowitz, Mark Foley, Rick Renzi, Robert McKee, Scott Muschany, Eric Feltner, etc. etc. etc.

Lemme guess... what do all these people have in common?

.

[lsbskins1]

Here is another link to find out what is actually behind this mess - McClatchy Washington Bureau | 10/11/2008 | Private sector loans, not Fannie or Freddie, triggered crisis - hope you guys can do something other than just believe every word that comes out of Sean Hannity and John Gibson's mouth.

This has more to do with fools like my (sorta) ex-brother in law, who bought something like 3 different houses in a 3 or 4 year period, the last of which was well out of his reasonable affordability range. His answer...in a year my equity will be such that I will be able to borrow enough to cover what I can't afford on my salary. Low income people want stability and a safe place to live, they are relatively safe borrowers. People like my (sorta) ex-brother-in-law, are wanna be aristocrats, who buy more they can afford for the "status" it brings, keep pushing the envelope, and screw things up when they reach just that much too high, trying to move from the middle management neighborhood to the CEO neighborhood.

[xyzer]

Sonart ! Why not add Senators Dodd, Reid,and Schumer plus Representatives Meeks,Waters, Davis and Franks to your list. They all resisted investigation and correction of the obvious abuses by FM and FM. Publicly said everything was OK.
Just a reminder FannieM and FreddieM made wellover half of all the loans..and Fannies CEO was taken to court for his scam. See above post?

[Sonart]

.

Quote by: Xyzer Sonart ! Why not add Senators Dodd, Reid,and Schumer plus Representatives Meeks,Waters, Davis and Franks to your list.

Because they haven't been convicted of any crimes. DUUUHH!!

To quote you... "I've rarely read such nonsensical drivel from liberal numbskulls as I read on this thread? The comission found that Palin had not done anything unlawful."

.

[jb_1430]

Quote by: lsbskins1 Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - The history of this is obvious. HR 4577 contained multiple appropriations bills and at least one time bomb, HR 5660. It's an example of the stupid games the republicans played, attaching these kind of deregulations on to necessary appropriation bills, so that others have little choice but to vote for them so that you don't have to cut off Treasury, HHS, SCHIP, and legislative appropriations. So, Clinton signs HR 4577, and the Democrats introduce bills trying to get rid of HR 5660 over the years, and are voted down repeatedly by the "fundemental deregulators". Even after, I might add, the Enron mess pointed the potential problem out. Bush even vetoed in 2008. But - BECAUSE THE DEMOCRATS HAD RETAKEN CONTROL, they had the ability to get this stuff out of comittee, and ask for an honest vote, so they were able to over-ride the veto. Too little, too late, but not because they did not try over the years. And Sean Hannity, et al, are blaming the homeowners by implying that if we hadn't "relaxed the rules" on minority buyers, we would not be in this mess. Own 'em if they represent your side.

Couldnt come up with a single example of efforts by Democrats to regulate credit default swaps? Yeah, I got the impression you were just makin this sh#t up as you go along. And the only regulations of credit default swaps they were seeking wouldnt have done anything to alleviate the current mortgage crisis.

[lsbskins1]

If you bothered to read the link, perhaps you would have seen this:


The act specifically banned regulation of credit default swaps. These unregulated instruments, insurance policies against default on risky investments like mortgage backed securities, necessitated the government bailout of insurer A.I.G.[1]


The act it speaks of is HR 5660, part of HR 4577. That created the unregulated credit default swap market. If they are attempting to modify or overturn HR 5660, they are attempting to regulate credit default swaps. So, I did come up with an example. What I didn't do was realize that you would not read or comprehend the post. Which was it?

[jb_1430]

Quote by: lsbskins1 If you bothered to read the link, perhaps you would have seen this: The act specifically banned regulation of credit default swaps. These unregulated instruments, insurance policies against default on risky investments like mortgage backed securities, necessitated the government bailout of insurer A.I.G.[1] The act it speaks of is HR 5660, part of HR 4577. That created the unregulated credit default swap market. If they are attempting to modify or overturn HR 5660, they are attempting to regulate credit default swaps. So, I did come up with an example. What I didn't do was realize that you would not read or comprehend the post. Which was it?

Nothing there of these efforts by Democrats to regulate credit default swaps. And it didnt create the market, it already existed. And none of the regulations that were proposed, would have done anything to prevent the current crisis. Primarily they were concerned with market manipulation, such as was the case with Enron in California. The Mortgage market has experienced no such manipulation.

[maximdewinter]

Quote by: xyzer Come on Max don't start the indirect consequences brouhaha. The Affordable Housing Scam dates only back to the late Clinton Administration. Yes these government subsidized corporations were extablished in late depression days but they didn't start bundling bad loans until much later. This from Wikipedia The very fact these two entities were government subsidized lent them credence in the mortgage loan business. Raines and company really started ripping off the corporations(to the tune of Millions of $s) and profiting from actions of Congress during previous administrations.encouragement to put more people into the home ownership category.i.e. bonuses for greater loan volume.Bundling bad risk loans with good risk loans and rendering them as government OKd?.Raines is even on Obamas campaign committee? If Obama wins will he be in the Cabinet? How about as Sec of the Treasury? Several Years back (2004) the House held hearings on the ascending scam. There are video clips from the hearings that show some Repubs warning the House and looking for oversight but these same clips show Rep Frank, Waters., Meeks and Davis(among others) saying there was no problem. Meeks even publicly castigates a so called regulator and comments he is "pissed Off" about trying to regulate these two honorable corporations? It turns out that many members of the House(Repub and Democrat) got contributions from Fannie Mae? And many House members had purchased shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Conflict of interest? I'd say so, wouldn't you. I challenge your attempt to pass the blame around? The crash could have been prevented in 2004/2006 when the problem was discussed in our law making body. A sufficient number of thes crooks ducked it and assured us all things were fine. Then the housing slump of 2007 blew the scam wide open. The blame is easily fixed, isn't it? Check out this letter signed by John McCain giving ample warning of what might happen unless congress acted. Notice no Democrat was involved.McCain Letter Demanded 2006 Action on Fannie and Freddie - HUMAN EVENTS

Mr. xyzer, I don't want to minimize the criminality that was part of the Fannie/Freddie debacle. But the credit default swap issue tends to overpower mortgage defaults by sheer size:

Credit Default Swaps: The Next Crisis? - TIME
"........The CDS market exploded over the past decade to more than $45 trillion in mid-2007, according to the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. This is roughly twice the size of the U.S. stock market (which is valued at about $22 trillion and falling) and far exceeds the $7.1 trillion mortgage market and $4.4 trillion U.S. treasuries market, notes Harvey Miller, senior partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges."

How Credit Default Swaps Became a Timebomb | Newsweek Business | Newsweek.com
".........So much of what's gone wrong with the financial system in the past year can be traced back to credit default swaps, which ballooned into a $62 trillion market before ratcheting down to $55 trillion last week—nearly four times the value of all stocks traded on the New York Stock Exchange."

Although credit default swaps don't approach the level of "personal criminality" that Fannie/Freddie does, isn't it clear that sweeping, common sense changes need to be made to regulate these instruments in addition to changes that need to be made in the mortgage bundling market? IMO we need to stop allowing the reselling of obligations, both mortgage and CDSs without careful oversight to insure that proper cash reserves are met to cover losses. In addition there needs to be sweeping changes in regulation of derivatives by the SEC. This isn't a left/right issue any more than bank fraud is.

[GHook93]

To start this has nothing to do with Barney Frank being a f@g! I could careless if he gets his sh1t pushed in on a daily basis! I would personal vote for a honest and intelligent f@g over a corrupt and dimwitted straightman.

That said Frank wa protecitng his boyfriend by selling out the country with his criminal protection of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. What a pick of sh1t!

Barney Frank Hit Over Boyfriend’s Fannie Mae Role Critics are crying “conflict of interest” over Democratic Rep. Barney Frank’s live-in relationship with Fannie Mae executive Herb Moses while Frank was on the House Banking Committee. Moses was Fannie Mae’s assistant director for product initiatives from 1991 to 1998. He was also openly gay Frank’s live-in boyfriend during that time, while the Massachusetts lawmaker was on the committee that had jurisdiction over government-sponsored Fannie Mae, Fox News’ Bill Sammon reported. Now that Fannie Mae is at the center of the recent financial meltdown, the relationship is coming under increased scrutiny. “It’s absolutely a conflict,” said Dan Gainor, vice president of the Business & Media Institute. “He was voting on Fannie Mae at a time when he was involved with a Fannie Mae executive. How is that not germane? “But everyone wants to avoid it because he’s gay. It’s the quintessential double standard.” A top Republican House aide told Fox News: “He writes housing and banking laws and his boyfriend is a top exec at a firm that stands to gain from those laws? No media ever take note?” Frank and Moses met in 1987 and lived together in Washington, D.C., until they split up in 1998. National Mortgage News disclosed that Moses “helped develop many of Fannie Mae’s affordable housing and home improvement lending programs.” Critics charge that such programs led to the mortgage meltdown and the recent government takeover of Fannie Mae, according to Fox News, which noted that Fannie Mae and its financial cousin Freddie Mac “are blamed for spreading bad mortgages throughout the private financial sector.”

Financial Intelligence Report