The man who screwed America

After Gobi, Barney Frank become involved in another questionable -- and possibly criminally tainted -- relationship with a man called Herb Moses. Moses, whom Frank called his "spouse," was a high-level executive at Fannie Mae from 1991 until 1998. Dubbed a "mortgage guru" by the National Mortgage News, Moses boasted that he helped develop "many of Fannie Mae's affordable housing and home improvement lending programs." It was, of course, these kinds of programs that ultimately led to the collapse of the subprime mortgage market that wiped out trillions dollars from the economy and produced the economic turmoil that we now face. Even though there were those warning against the precarious nature of the enterprise, Barney Frank -- whose committee oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- kept resisting reforms and besmirching those voicing concerns.

When the Bush administration proposed that oversight of Fannie and Freddie be transferred to the Treasury Department, Frank strongly opposed the plan, claiming:

"These two entities... are not facing any kind of financial crisis... The more people exaggerate these problems, the more pressure there is on these companies, the less we will see in terms of affordable housing."

Frank continued to claim almost until the day of the collapse that the two mortgage giants were financially sound. If we lived in a sane world, Barney Frank would be compelled to testify about his culpability in the current crisis and what role his romantic involvement with Herb Moses -- as well as the campaign contributions he received from Fannie and Freddie -- played in his shilling for these two moribund institutions.

Commenting on his shenanigans, Jeff Jacoby observed that under normal circumstances Frank's questionable relationships could have well landed him in prison. Voters in his very liberal congressional district, however, have awarded him with a string of easy re-elections.

Read the whole thing: Who Is Barney Frank?