Barney Frank is chair of the House Financial Services Committee, a body in Congress with control over legislation affecting mortgage, banking, credit card and payday lending corporations. If Barney Frank wants a bill on banking to progress to the floor of the House, he can do a lot to shepherd it on its way. If Barney Frank wants a bill on credit card reform to stay dead in committee, he can make it happen.
In the first half of 2009, according to Federal Election Commission data, Barney Frank collected $827,763.35 in campaign contributions, making a formidable statement about his ability to mount a 2010 re-election campaign. $133,575 of that money — 16.1% of the total — was collected for him and delivered to him by corporate lobbyists in a process called “bundling.”
Actually, to be completely accurate I should say that at least $133,575 in campaign contributions was delivered to Barney Frank during that period by corporate lobbyists. After all, direct payments from lobbyists and lobbyist PACs aren’t counted in this total; only the contributions gathered from other people by lobbists count. In addition, because the new law requiring the reporting of lobbyist bundling wasn’t published in the Federal Register until February 2009, Barney Frank wasn’t required under law to count bundled contributions until the middle of March of 2009, which means that the share of contributions that were delivered to Barney Frank by corporate lobbyists could be much higher than 16.1% for the period.
From the beginning of July 2009 to the end of September 2009, Barney Frank received a total of $367347.15 in campaign contributions. $68,800 of that money — 18.7% — was collected up, bundled for, and delivered to Barney Frank by corporate lobbyists. Among those lobbyists were representatives of the Independent Community Bankers of America, an organization which sent a baker’s dozen of lobbyists into the halls of government to derail credit card rate caps.
There are 70 cosponsors of H.R. 4300, a bill to cap interest rates at 16% and reduce the magnitude credit card fees. Barney Frank is not one of the cosponsors. Barney Frank is chair of the House Financial Services Committee, and if he wants to kill a bill in his committee, he has the power to make it happen.
What a Progressive Moron Frank is….period!
if he’s such a progressive moron, tater, why would he not give support to a bill that will help middle class americans get a fair shake from the profit mongering credit pushers? unless you think that progress should be for the elite only.that would make the dick and george crowd really progressive morons and barney just a cuddly mini- moron.
WE GOT SCOTT IN. DON’T GET TOO COCKY BARNEY. NO PUN INTENDED
Before you kick Barney Frank out of Congress, why don’t you try turning your caps lock key off, Steve?
There is a similarity, though. With both Martha Coakley and Barney Frank, the Democratic vulnerability is cause by the Democrat not being progressive enough.