Democratic House Financial Services Committee Chair promoted GSEs while former 'spouse' was Fannie Mae executive!

Tsk tsk Barney Frank. You have alot of nerve! You have been all over the mainstream media touting that you actually give a damn about the 'common citizens' of this nation. You have been telling the 'common citizens' that the Republicans are the evil ones responsible for this mess. Yet, you have been NECK DEEP involved in this mess. NOT one mention of this association by the media. Hhhhmm, I wonder why? Lou Dobbs, I just heard that Barney Frank will be appearing on your show tomorrow. I urge you to please grill this corrupt Democratic politician. Put him in his place! This is a Bi-Partisan stink hole...

Our U.S. politicians want us to be so pre-occupied with mindless activities that we accept what they say and don't bother to fish for information. Well not me. If we are not informed about 'their' activities how do we know where we need to protect ourselves. This information quite frankly took me by surprise. I knew the Democrats were just as reponsibile for this mess as the Republicans. I mean, the Democrats control the House for heaven's sake. But to find out that the main man who is supposed to be responsible for the U.S. Financial Services Committee to literally be in 'bed' with the two corrupt corporations that insured the toxic loans and enabled the banksters is appalling to say the least! You hypocrite. Please click here to read the entire article!

Here is another article I dug up click here about Barney Frank being investigated by the House Ethics Committee from Time.com dated Sep. 25, 1989 titled, 'A Skeleton in Barney's Closet'.

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Business & Media Institute

Media Mum on Barney Frank's Fannie Mae Love Connection

By Jeff Poor

9/24/2008 4:00:57 PM

Are journalists playing favorites with some of the key political figures involved with regulatory oversight of U.S. financial markets?

MSNBC’s Chris Matthews launched several vitriolic attacks on the Republican Party on his Sept. 17, 2008, show, suggesting blame for Wall Street problems should be focused in a partisan way. However, he and other media have failed to thoroughly examine the Democratic side of the blame game.

Prominent Democrats ran Fannie Mae, the same government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) that donated campaign cash to top Democrats. And one of Fannie Mae’s main defenders in the House – Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., a recipient of more than $40,000 in campaign donations from Fannie since 1989 – was once romantically involved with a Fannie Mae executive.

The media coverage of Frank’s coziness with Fannie Mae and his pro-Fannie Mae stances has been lacking. Of the eight appearances Frank made on the three broadcasts networks between Jan. 1, 2008, and Sept. 21, 2008, none of his comments dealt with the potential conflicts of interest. Only six of the appearances dealt with the economy in general and two of those appearances, including an April 6, 2008 appearance on CBS’s “60 Minutes” were about his opposition to a manned mission to Mars.

The news media have covered the relationship in the past, but there have been no mentions since 2005, according to Nexis and despite the collapse of Fannie Mae. The July 3, 1998, Reliable Source column in The Washington Post reported Frank, who is openly gay, had a relationship with Herb Moses, an executive for the now-government controlled Fannie Mae. The column revealed the two had split up at the time but also said Frank was referring to Moses as his “spouse.” Another Washington Post report said Frank called Moses his “lover” and that the two were “still friends” after the breakup.

Frank was and remains a stalwart defender of Fannie Mae, which is now under FBI investigation along with its sister organization Freddie Mac, American International Group Inc. (NYSE:AIG) and Lehman Brothers (NYSE:LEH) – all recently participants in government bailouts. But Frank has derailed efforts to regulate the institution, as well as denying it posed any financial risk. Frank’s office has been unresponsive to efforts by the Business & Media Institute to comment on these potential conflicts of interest.

While the relationship reportedly ended 10 years ago, Frank was serving on the House Banking Committee the entire 10 years they were together. The committee is the primary House body which along with the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) has jurisdiction over the government-sponsored enterprises.

He has served on the committee since becoming a congressman in 1981 and became the ranking Democrat on the committee in 2003. He became chairman of the committee, now called the House Financial Services Committee, in 2007.

Moses was the assistant director for product initiatives at Fannie Mae and had been at the forefront of relaxing lending restrictions at the company for rural customers, according to the Feb. 23, 1998, issue of National Mortgage News (NMN).

“Herb Moses, who helped develop many of Fannie Mae’s affordable housing and home improvement lending programs, has left the mortgage industry,” Darryl Hicks wrote for NMN. “Mr. Moses - whose last day was Feb. 13 [How convenient! Right before the SHTF] - spent the past seven years at Fannie Mae, most recently as director of housing initiatives. Over the course of time, he played an instrumental role in developing the company’s Title One and 203(k) home improvement lending programs.” [What a fine job he did at that/ sacasm]