A Massachusetts Democrat surrenders
Barney Frank isn’t just throwing up the white flag here. This is total capitulation. Obama better move quickly to shore up his left flank if he hopes to salvage health care reform.
I am a resident of Norton MA and Barney Frank is my congressman. I just called his office in DC and expressed my displeasure with his statement released last night especially the line “But our respect for democratic procedures must rule out any effort to pass a health care bill as if the Massachusetts election had not happened.” I told him I didn’t think we lost this election because of it was a Health Care Reform referendum but because we had a very weak Senate candidate. He agreed she did a lousy job campaigning. I told him we should just pass the Senate HCR and be done. He stated that all that would do was rile up the electorate and guarantee our further losses in November. I told him that caving in to Republican foot-dragging would kill the bill and we would not have HCR for another 15 years. He thought our best route was to try to get Snowe to come aboard with a revised Senate bill. I told him that was ridiculous, that the Republicans were emboldened by this win and I was incredulous that he thought there was any chance of getting even one Republican vote to make this bipartisan.
Barney Frank insisted to me that there was not the vote in the House now to pass the Senate HCR. I asked him personally if he would vote to pass the Senate HCR as it stands and get it on Obama’s desk. He said he would not vote yes on the Senate bill. He cited the abortion and plan tax portions of the bill for his opposition. He thought the Democrats were headed for heavy losses if they didn’t drop the current HCR and try to pass some revised version. I told him if they didn’t pass the Senate HCR now the November defeat would be guaranteed and much worse because you would lose the progressives and nothing Barney Frank would do or say could convince the right to not vote against us. He was firm in his belief and I found his argument very unconvincing.
I got the impression that HCR is now doomed and his alternative to fix it and pass it did not seem feasible. I told him the public is sick and tired hearing about health care and that we should pass the Senate HCR, have Obama sign it tomorrow, and then spend from now to the election passing a jobs bill and doing financial reform. I told him the public will only remember that in November and will have moved on from HCR. I said the electorate is always distracted by the next shiny object they see and would forget HCR and remember last good bill you passed, but he replied he thought the public had more intelligence than I thought they had. We ended the call in total disagreement on his assessment, his plan on how to proceed on HCR, and is refusal to vote personally for the Senate HCR.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
56 comments Add your comment
smart black guy
January 20th, 2010
1:43 pm
Ram this bill down our Throat, and watch the American People Revolt!
Turd Ferguson
January 20th, 2010
1:46 pm
Barney Frank sees the handwriting on the wall and is doing like most any person would do…covering his own ass first.
He in fact uttered that same statement last week I believe…”If Coakley loses HCare is dead”. Much like the other Dems, Frank knows this is a bad bill and if voted YEA they would be on the November chopping block like so many thanksgiving turkeys, otherwise they wouldnt all run for cover at the sight of this latest storm.
OboboCare is dead.
Jeff Pruett
January 20th, 2010
1:48 pm
Barney Frank has sold his soul to the Washington political establishment.
Sunshine and Thunder
January 20th, 2010
1:50 pm
If you want Barney Frank to vote for the bill have Nancy Pelosi BRIBE HIM. That’s how it’s done, right?
Bubba
January 20th, 2010
1:53 pm
Democrat surrender! This IS good news!
Jeff Pruett
January 20th, 2010
1:54 pm
Enter your comments here
JOHN ODD OWL
January 20th, 2010
1:54 pm
The Democrats in congress are stuck on stupid and cronic procrastinators. NHR should have been voted on and signed into law before Thanksgiving. President Obama should switch to the Independent party. They seem to be the only party with the gum shun to do anything.
George
January 20th, 2010
2:29 pm
Another person sold on the “it makes me feel good to say it” approach to leading. The majority of Americans want every institution to run more efficiently- perhaps especially healthcare- but do not want the most inefficient institution in the country to make back office deals that are largely based on quid pro quo and quite frankly bribes. Americans learned with the last administration to require transperancy. The current leadership has taken behind close doors to a new level. Yesterday we were once again patronized with the President is “cerebral”. Cerebral in a professorial, inexperienced sort of way- maybe. Not difficult folks- we are still facing a financial crisis and healthcare is a large part. Have open debates and make solid changes over time- it is called management. The administration has still not adequately defined the problem other than to scream “change” and throw money at special interest.
Elder Spokesman
January 20th, 2010
2:32 pm
CT,
You get paid for reading what others write and posting their thoughts under your byline? What a sweet gig! No wonder AJC is foundering.
demwit
January 20th, 2010
2:37 pm
Damn those teabag torpidoes.., full steam ahead dems!!
Aquagirl
January 20th, 2010
2:49 pm
Wow, the Democrats couldn’t ride coattails enough when Obama was the latest fad. Now it’s like watching rats deserting a sinking ship.
We’re about to suffer serious aftereffects of buyers remorse from Obama voters. What a bunch of lazy twerps. A few months of Hope and Change, now they’re back to iPod apps, American Idol, and whatever else holds their short attention spans.
ctucker
January 20th, 2010
2:52 pm
Yes, Elder Spokesman, on this blog, that’s exactly what I get paid to do: monitor countless streams of political info from TV, radio, newspapers, blog, journals and comment about that which I find interesting.
Peadawg
January 20th, 2010
3:09 pm
“A Massachusetts Democrat surrenders”
What a B-E-A-UTIFUL headline.
I agree, Elder Spokesman. I wish I got paid to copy-and-paste someone else’s thought, write 2 sentences on it, and claim I “comment about that which I find interesting”.
TnGelding
January 20th, 2010
3:14 pm
I side with Barney on this one. It’s a bad bill that can be much improved over the next few weeks. What we really need is Medicare for everyone since it is already in place. It at least would provide a minimum amount of coverage, but don’t fool yourselves young folks. It still would require considerable deductibles and copays. Also Medigap insurance is needed if you have chronic health problems.
The economy should be humming by 2012 and this will be forgotten, provided they can come together and pass something that actually increases coverage and reduces costs. Look for Brown to work with the Dems and continue to be the 60th vote.
El Jefe
January 20th, 2010
3:23 pm
Has Barney finally seen the light regarding the voice of the people and health care?
Will Pelosi figure it out too?
Will Reid renege on his Louisiana and Nebraska bribes?
Will the President turn on the Union deal?
Tune in next week as we find the Democrats trying to Dance with the Stars in their eyes.
StJ
January 20th, 2010
3:31 pm
“I said the electorate is always distracted by the next shiny object they see and would forget HCR…”
Spoken like a true Democrat (”the people are too stupid to remember what you did”). News flash: the people are not QUITE as stupid as they think. Democrats advertised themselves as centrists in the last election, and people in the center bought it. But now the truth about the Leftist Grand Agenda is known, and now the electorate is wide awake. Ignore the will of the people at your own peril.
It is now painfully evident to most Democrats that those who continue to push the socialist policies of Pelosi and Reid will pay for it with their jobs. Including Obama.
Nothing like a little voter backlash to remind them that THEY work for US, and not the other way around…
Ridgerunner
January 20th, 2010
3:51 pm
Amazing that a state like Massachusetts is tired and even fearful of a Federal government out of control.
Tommy Maddox
January 20th, 2010
3:57 pm
He through a white flag?
Where’s the racial analysis of that?
Rita
January 20th, 2010
4:25 pm
We could have used the teabagger-types in 2003 during the Medicare Part D $3 trillion giveaway to Big Pharma the Republicans forced through, but not before silencing the actuary who tried to blow the whistle on the true cost. Then Billy Tauzin, the Republican Congressman who twisted arms to get it passed, quit the House to take a $2MM per year salary as head of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. Where was the outrage THEN?
Tommy Maddox
January 20th, 2010
4:25 pm
threw – sorry.
samuel
January 20th, 2010
4:31 pm
I agree with TnGelding that the economy should be humming by late 2011 or early 2012. Even if the Democrats suffer big losses in the fall, remember that Clinton was re-elected after the Democrats lost their Congressional majority in 1994. It took Clinton time to clean up the mess left by Reagan and Bush Sr. It will take time for Obama to clean up the mess left by Bush Jr.
smart black guy
January 20th, 2010
4:34 pm
you dummycrats… Obummer is a one termer, just like Bush Sr. was!!
Jimbo
January 20th, 2010
4:46 pm
clinton funded taliban still a force, hmmmmm
GO FOX NEWS
SUPPORT DRUG TESTING FOR WELFARE – SAVE MILLIONS
OUT WITH OBOZO,PEONLOSI,REIDetc
Ragnar Danneskjöld
January 20th, 2010
4:48 pm
I find myself in the unexpected position of defending Barney Frank, whom I normally charge as among the worst of the worst. Even if my ideology conflicts with his, I do not call Mr. Frank a fool or an idiot; he reads tea leaves as well as anyone in Washington. When he is in a position of strength, his hubris knows no limits; and when he draws a weak hand, he does not waste his chits. I think Barney is out-thinking most of his fellow leftists.
Rita
January 20th, 2010
4:50 pm
“Fox News, where even high school dropouts can become pundits as long as they vomit out the hate.” Or..”Fox News: We Distort, and You Morons Actually Believe It!”
pat
January 20th, 2010
4:52 pm
Bawney Fwank is a nimwod….
What'sup!
January 20th, 2010
5:25 pm
samuel,January 20th, 2010, 4:31 pm
Obama needs to clean up his act — not the act of Bush! Sure politicians promise things during a campaign that they can’t keep but Obama holds the record. This is what happens when a unexperienced person is elected as President (should be a big lesson learned here) and who relies on all those around him to tell him what to do instead of taking ownership of his position. It is one thing to bully those in Congress but you can’t bully the people of this country!
Chris Broe
January 20th, 2010
5:29 pm
The only reason Brown won is because the democrats went to a 3 man rush. I wonder if Pat Robertson thinks that God doesn’t want America to have healthcare reform because God took Ted Kennedy from us before it passed.
There is one peculiarity: The lunatic fringe doesn’t seem to be gloating, like they feel that this Massachussets victory isn’t enough. Secessionist fever can’t be assuaged with one senate seat, I’m afraid.
I’ve got a bad feeling about the wingnuts’ momentum on the heels of climategate: with all the barnstorming dead ahead, what was gone with the wind could come back through a pact with a dust-devil.
Secessionist Fever: If Glenn Beck can manage to connect illegal aliens to El Nino, there’ll be no stopping it.
Scott
January 20th, 2010
5:47 pm
“the economy should be humming.” Not if we continue to keep the Dems around. If we get a better balance in Congress….maybe. I just do not see how an economy that is running under capacity while keeping its workers at 32 hrs or less per week is going to change this dramatically. Companies are not going to hire more right now and not for some time. Many, many good economists are saying the same exact thing….this will be a JOBLESS recovery, one that will be long and drawn out. If you are counting on Obama getting reelected because of his ability to get the economy turned around, you are seriously mistaken.
Oh and Samuel, keep in mind that the economy and this country were doing just fine until your beloved Dems took over control of Congress. Oh, and the reason why it took time for Clinton to turn the economy around like you claimed(You obviously have no knowledge of history because the economy grew dramatically under Reagan) was because the Reps took over Congress in ‘94. You really need to stop skewing history. I don’t know if it the schools that have screwed it up or if you just didn’t pay attention, but you really have no idea what you are talking about.
samuel
January 20th, 2010
7:16 pm
Scott @ 5:47, you seem to think that Congress influences the budget, national debt and the economy moreso than the President. So let’s go back to the 1960’s. From 1960 to 1980, the national debt as a % of Gross Domestic Product fell by 23% (56% to 33%). During that period, the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress the entire time and had the Presidency for 12 of 20 years. The 1960’s, in particular, was the golden age of the American economy, and we had a Keynesian economy. From 1980 to 1990, practicing supply-side economic theories, the national debt tripled, increasing from 33% to 56% of Gross Domestic Product in 1 decade. The economy grew, but the tide did not lift all boats. Business owners made much more money at the expense of rank-and-file workers. This happened under 2 Republican Presidents. Now, being a blind conservative, you credit Reagan with the economic growth while blaming Congressional Democrats for the budget deficits and national debt. But remember that Republicans were the majority in the Senate from 1981 to 1987, and that Reagan’s budgets were passed with a minority of Democratic votes. Check my history Scott. And as I always say to conservatives, do your research.
Scott
January 20th, 2010
8:43 pm
Samuel, He got us out the energy crisis, got us out of the recession, lowered unemployment, controlled inflation, and put down the threat of the Cold War, making this country safe and setting the stage for growth in the future. I think that is pretty successful if you ask me. Of course, you will not credit any of the future success to him though but rather tell us all that Clinton was the greatest. Clinton gave us a surplus, but at what cost???? Reduced National Security and an undermanned military.
"The One"
January 20th, 2010
8:55 pm
“Follow me …. I will lead you into the kingdom of misery” — Barrack Obama
Carter is a FOOL
January 20th, 2010
8:57 pm
Clinton was a decent (no strike that) President, He was not decent. Indecent – YES. He was a hands-off guy who inherited a good economy and did nothing to screw it up. Reagan as Scott said brought the country out of the disaster that CARTER created. The economy grew, the Soviets collapsed and we would have had less budget shortfalls except for the dummycrats and republicants who love to spend in Congress.
Scott
January 20th, 2010
8:59 pm
Oh and Samuel,
I am really curious on how you think that the economy is going to improve.
What are you going to base it on? Stock market? Well, a rise in the stock market will mean nothing when the value of the dollar is practically nothing. Unemployment? Businesses, being saddled with more costs from a bigger government, are not going to hire more people. Right now, businesses are getting even more accustomed to doing more with less. They certainly are controlling their CAPEX an instead are finding ways to remove headcount every way that they can. Besides, how will this unemployment be measured? Will it include the millions that have become discouraged and have left the job market? The way I see it, whenever the economy speeds back up, companies will simply give back the hours to their current employees, and cover demand spikes with overtime, leaving the millions of unemployed, jobless. While we might see a slight drop in the unemployment rate, a more accurate measurement of unemployment, the labor utilization, will not improve much.
I’m sorry, but there is no way this economy is going to recover as quickly as you think. I would love to see it but I, like most, do not see it recovering as quickly as you think it will. It’s going to be jobless and it’s going to be long and drawn out.
Scott
January 20th, 2010
9:01 pm
Carter is a Fool…Watch out…Here comes…”obama inherited bad economy from Bush.” Watch it….. watch it……. watch it… Here it comes. They will throw that out without mentioning that it was going fine until the Dems took over Congress.
Mr Charlie
January 20th, 2010
9:02 pm
I think the overlooked thing is Obama’s/Democrats allegience to Unions. Stronger unions do not create jobs. I am all for worker rights, but when unemployment is 10%, it is not the time. It is like Obama is trying to tackle all the issues at the wrong time. We need jobs, not healthcare, not unions, we need jobs. Jobs are created by entrepeneurs, the exact people in Obama’s cross hairs, and when those people are concerned about having to pay higher taxes, supply health care, and worry about unions, they don’t invest, they don’t create jobs.
I know wealth envy is all the rage, but the exact people you despise are the people you depend on to pay the tabs. Jobs will come from businesses, not from the govenrment. The people understand that.
Carter is a FOOL
January 20th, 2010
9:02 pm
Cynthia, another cut and paste job. That prize you won must be made of tin foil. Your commentary with this issue – two sentences. Pitiful.
As to Barney, he is a smart jackass. The handwriting is on the wall that Americans don’t want this unread bill to pass. I just wish that your headline was accurate and that he admitted defeat and QUIT since he is more responsible than anyone for the mortgage meltdown due to blocking reform attempts to fix Fannie and Freddie before the meltdown. He is an embarrassment to us all.
Carter is a FOOL
January 20th, 2010
9:04 pm
Bumper Sticker in Mass. I rather be riding in an old truck with 200,000 miles than Ted’s car. Senator Brown. Has a great ring to it. Now on to defeat Harry in Nevada and thankful that Dodd QUIT. If only the Queen Nancy were in danger, but Boxer is. YEAH.
Ragnar Danneskjöld
January 20th, 2010
9:07 pm
Dear Samuel, you err in part. We would agree that the Kennedy tax cuts made the 1960s roar, but the consistent application of Keynesian theory from 1933-1945 had no beneficial effect. Nixon’s proclamation, that “we are all Keynesians now,” came just in time to see the Philips Curve collapse under the weight of the leftist spending in the 1970s. Reagan, the anti-Keynesian, revived the economy with tax cuts [sidebar: note the tax cuts passed in 1981 did not take effect until 1983, although the SocSec tax increase took effect immediately. And the economy was in the tank until almost the day the tax cuts took effect, and did not even pause until Bush 41 signed on to the dem’s tax increase in 1990.
I am with Scott @ 5:47, giving the republicans under Gingrich credit for the balanced budgets of the 1990s. Only a weakened executive made that possible,
Joan
January 20th, 2010
9:07 pm
The Democrats had everything they needed to ram some awful bill through, but they couldn’t get their act together. Now, it is back to the drawing board. And frankly, it should be. The bill they had wasn’t one they would deign to be covered by, was one that was the result of bribes to the Union, to the States of Mississippi and Nebraska. Why did they have to bribe their “friends” to vote for it if it is so good? Why won’t politicians be covered by it if it is so good? Answer: it is not good.
Scott
January 20th, 2010
9:09 pm
Unions are killing us. I see the value back in the day when employers would hurt/kill workers left an right. We have OSHA now. Pretty much OSHA took on most of the responsibilities that the unions once performed. Now, the unions are nothing more than companies in themselves. Look at how much their leadership “makes”, or should I say, STEAL, from its members. They are useless and they do not help companies get better.
I have been a Manager in both union and nonunion facilities. The workers in the nonunion facility are happier and more willing to work with management to make the company better. As long as you treat the employees like you would like to be treated and ensure they have a good wage, and include them in your bonus programs, they will NEVER allow a union in the facility.
Carter is a FOOL
January 20th, 2010
9:10 pm
Scott, yes they will continue their Bush Delusion Syndrome until they are fired by the voters who are waking up to this con job. Then it will be too late.
It was going fine until the dems took over congress and inspite of Barney blocking the effort to fix Fannie and Freddie. It was his blocking tactics on this dreadful idea from Carter that we need to make loans to people who can’t afford them. Clinton expanded it and Barney protected it. Then BLEWEY BANGO. Now here we are in the mess that they created.
Will
January 20th, 2010
9:21 pm
The Democratic Party can’t win without the Democratic voters.
Why the hell is Barney Frank trying to appease Republicans when the Progressive base is mad at him? Republicans hate Barney!
Newsflash Barney: The people ACTUALLY VOTED FOR YOU will be pissed if you do not pass something for healthcare.
Mr Charlie
January 20th, 2010
9:29 pm
Scott, and Obama loves unions. Jobs are created in the private sector, and now is not the time to hammer the private sector with worries about providing health care, paying higher taxes, and the threat of unionization. People how have money are not about to invest it creating jobs in that kind of enviornment. I did not vote for Obama for this reason, and this reason alone. It looks like the rest of the country is starting to see the light.
Ridgerunner
January 20th, 2010
9:41 pm
This is what happens when you give the ball to the Jr. Varisity.
rhapman
January 20th, 2010
9:59 pm
Barney Frank should be ousted ASAP. He’s one of the main reasons that caused the housing finance mess.
rhapman
January 20th, 2010
10:07 pm
Obama & Company have taken a Bush thing and have absolutly made it worse. I guess Obama thinks I acted “stupidly”, like he said about the Cambridge Police, when I voted for Brown. ps: Barney you’re next!
Woodrow
January 20th, 2010
10:20 pm
Toss Frank out on his ear. Between the housing crap and his wanting to socialize America, he’s useless.
Snookie
January 20th, 2010
10:21 pm
He who smelt it delt it…
not a CT fan
January 21st, 2010
12:28 am
I do not care much for Mr. Franks, but I share his two oppositions to the Health Care Bill that Obama is trying to get passed. Kudos!