Things Our Fearless Leaders Have Done or Said Recently that Make You Go "Hmmmmm"

[Foxfyre]

Is Barney Frank in trouble in his district? Definitely generating some WTF comments, this denizon of the House who was the #1 apologist for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and refused to allow anything that would puncture that bubble early and thus head off the late 2008 ecnomic collapse. . .now he says??????. . . .

WASHINGTON | Wed Aug 18, 2010 6:25am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should be abolished rather than reformed as part of the Obama administration's planned overhaul of the government's role in housing finance, Rep. Barney Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services committee, said on Tuesday.
Democrat Frank says abolish Freddie and Fannie: report | Reuters

 

[Sky Dancer]

"Of the four hundred and thirty-five members of the House of Representatives, Barney Frank is the only one whose public remarks have been collected in a book of quotations (“Frank Talk: The Wit and Wisdom of Barney Frank,” published in 2006). He is also the only congressman whose fight against the impeachment of President Bill Clinton has been the subject of a documentary, which was shown to acclaim at film festivals around the country (“Let’s Get Frank,” directed by Bart Everly). Frank is not the only member of Congress to have been the subject of a full-scale biography, but the account of his life, written by a former aide named Stuart E. Weisberg, to be published by the University of Massachusetts Press later this year, will likely rank among the more exhaustive and admiring books ever printed about a sitting member of the House, who is described as “arguably the most unique and fascinating, certainly the most entertaining political figure in Washington.”

For the first time in more than forty years of public life, Frank has real power, and he is wielding it in a characteristically idiosyncratic manner. He remains a national symbol of outré sexuality as well as a rare wit in generally humor-deficient Washington. But in Congress he is thought of no longer simply as a liberal of the old school (which he is) but also as a grind. His expertise is in one of the least glamorous subjects on the national agenda—housing, particularly rental housing for poor people—and he is using that knowledge to confront the nation’s economic crisis. “For Barney, the question has always been: What works? What can government do to see that people have the decent necessities of life?” his sister Ann Lewis, the longtime Democratic activist, says. “Now he’s right there. Barney’s been preparing for this moment for his entire life.”

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/01/12/090112fa_fact_toobin#ixzz0x4ET4Fe3


Read more Barney Frank gets some real power : The New Yorker

 

[Foxfyre]

And just ran across this. I'm quoting from FoxNation which as stand alone I would not consider a completely reliable source, but this is supported elsewhere sufficiently to post it:

The Public Doesn't Have a Right to Know What is In Bank Reform??????

Under a little-noticed provision of the recently passed financial-reform legislation, the Securities and Exchange Commission no longer has to comply with virtually all requests for information releases from the public, including those filed under the Freedom of Information Act.

The law, signed last week by President Obama, exempts the SEC from disclosing records or information derived from "surveillance, risk assessments, or other regulatory and oversight activities." Given that the SEC is a regulatory body, the provision covers almost every action by the agency, lawyers say. Congress and federal agencies can request information, but the public cannot.

That argument comes despite the President saying that one of the cornerstones of the sweeping new legislation was more transparent financial markets. Indeed, in touting the new law, Obama specifically said it would “increase transparency in financial dealings."
Obama Admin. Says Public Doesn't Have Right to Know What's In Bank Bill | The FOX Nation

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

Can't have the people knowing what the Statists are up to can we?

 

[Foxfyre]

Well yeah Soggy, sometimes different members do make us go 'hmmmmm' but so far as I know none of our USMB members qualify as fearless leaders in state and federal government and the media, so let's don't get into a food fight with fellow members here. There's enough our fearless leaders plus their surrogates in the media say and do to keep a thread active I think.

 

[Foxfyre]

if you ever wondered about Paul Krugman's far left leanings and bias, there was this line from his NYT column this week:

"Conservatives hate Social Security for ideological reasons: its success undermines their claim that government is always the problem, never the solution."

 

[uscitizen]

I don't have any leaders.

Now if you are talking about government officials....

 

[Foxfyre]

I don't have any leaders.

Now if you are talking about government officials....

LOL, well we're sorta taking liberties with semantics here. "Fearless leader" is not exactly a complimentary term when I use it.

 

[uscitizen]

I don't have any leaders.

Now if you are talking about government officials....

LOL, well we're sorta taking liberties with semantics here. "Fearless leader" is not exactly a complimentary term when I use it.

Yeah, Leader implies that I follow them....

I do what I have to do to keep from getting punished is the extent of my following government officials lead.

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

Well uscitizen do you have any comments that elected officials have said lately that make you go "HOLY CRAP DID THEY JUST SAY THAT?!?!?!"?

 

[uscitizen]

Well uscitizen do you have any comments that elected officials have said lately that make you go "HOLY CRAP DID THEY JUST SAY THAT?!?!?!"?

Not really, I pay more attention to what they do than what they say.

Invading Iraq was a holy crap moment for me.
So was TARP and the Republican support for it.

 

[PLYMCO_PILGRIM]

Well uscitizen do you have any comments that elected officials have said lately that make you go "HOLY CRAP DID THEY JUST SAY THAT?!?!?!"?

Not really, I pay more attention to what they do than what they say.

Invading Iraq was a holy crap moment for me.
So was TARP and the Republican support for it.

I totally agree on TARP and the support for it. That was the final straw with me and the republican party.

As far as Iraq I supported going in but for different reasons than most. My uncle is in the air force and he was one of the pilots that patrolled the UN no fly zone and saddam's troops actually shot missles at him a few times in violation of their cease fire agreement with us. I wanted us to do something substantial to them over their violations of the cease fire and not for the WMD/Terrorism thing that our government decided to go with.

 

[Foxfyre]

Headlines from Drudge today:

USA DEBT: $13,310,379,000,000.00
$44,000 PER CITIZEN...

Forget Bush. Obama now blames poor job situation on Congress...

Biden says voters won't like Republican alternative...

Also, the moon is shrinking!!!!!!!

 

[uscitizen]

Headlines from Drudge today:

USA DEBT: $13,310,379,000,000.00
$44,000 PER CITIZEN...

Forget Bush. Obama now blames poor job situation on Congress...

Biden says voters won't like Republican alternative...

Also, the moon is shrinking!!!!!!!

Send in your check for 44,000 today. and another one for each child.
More children = more you owe.

 

[Foxfyre]

Hell no. It has not yet occurred to our fearless leaders to pay down the debt or use extra cash to reduce the deficit. I'm not gonna send them $44,000 to use to buy votes from some pet constiuency and still have $44,000 left on the books. I only look that stupid.

 

[Foxfyre]

Well now. Hmmmm. Do we believe the Administration when they point to our fearless leader keeping his promise to have all combat troops out of Iraq by this summer or do we believe this?

Combat brigades in Iraq under different name
7 Advise and Assist Brigades, made up of troops from BCTs, still in Iraq
By Kate Brannen - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Aug 21, 2010 1659 EDT

As the final convoy of the Army’s 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Lewis, Wash., entered Kuwait early Thursday, a different Stryker brigade remained in Iraq.

Soldiers from the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division are deployed in Iraq as members of an Advise and Assist Brigade, the Army’s designation for brigades selected to conduct security force assistance.

So while the “last full U.S. combat brigade” have left Iraq, just under 50,000 soldiers from specially trained heavy, infantry and Stryker brigades will stay, as well as two combat aviation brigades.
Combat brigades in Iraq under different name - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Or is it just a matter of semantics?