Barney Frank is coming under increasing scrutiny. He should be. This loathsome man is at the very heart of the sub-prime mess and, like an ink-shooting squid, has thus far managed to evade responsibility. He combines squalid narcissism and arrogance in equal measure and was one of Freddie’s and Fannie’s accomplices in the ‘affordable housing’ market while resisting all efforts at regulatory oversight. In a just world, he’d be in prison.
But dear Barney is now Chair of the House Financial Services Committee and a BMOC. He’s hard at work on the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2009, which would micro-manage lenders and substitute the government’s judgment for that of borrowers on lending decisions. The Cybercast News Service caught up with Frank and recorded some of his deep thoughts about the way life should be in Barney’s World.
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) told CNSNews.com Thursday that, if it were up to him, Americans would be completely free to smoke marijuana and gamble on the Internet — but they shouldn’t be allowed “total freedom” in their financial decisions because those risky decisions might adversely affect others.
“I would let people gamble on the Internet,” Frank said. “I would let adults smoke marijuana; I would let adults do a lot of things, if they choose.”
“He added: “But allowing them total freedom to take on economic obligations that spill over into the broader society, or have a house in a neighborhood — which when they go bankrupt becomes a fire hazard for their neighbors — we’re well beyond, the impact goes well beyond the individual.”
The individual is not the only one impacted here,” said Frank, “when bad decisions get made in the economic sphere, it causes problems.”
So this is all very interesting. People should be free to engage in destructive personal behavior but prevented from making their own financial decisions because the ‘impact goes well beyond the individual’. I wonder if Frank’s notions of personal decision-making include running a male prostitution ring out of the basement?
But no matter. All of us plebs must submit ourselves to moral exemplars like Frank:
CNSNews.com asked Frank [whether his proposal] might undercut personal responsibility and the freedom of individuals to make decisions.
“We’re not just talking individual responsibility,” Rep. Frank said. “We have a world-wide economic crisis now because of this. If it’s purely individual responsibility, okay, that’s why I disagree with the ranking member.”
Frank explained that he believed individuals should be allowed to smoke pot and gamble on the Internet, but “total freedom” in financial decisions might “cause problems.”
Barney also said some other interesting things like, well, that the subprime mess is all the states’ fault because they didn’t do a good job of overseeing mortgage lending.
When Lincoln talked about ‘holding the power and bearing the responsibility’ I don’t think he quite had Barney Frank in mind.
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