Frank Hypocrisy

Explaining to Charlie Rose why we’re in the financial mess we’re in, Democratic Congressman Barney Frank, Chairman of the House Financial Services Commitee, said there was a “lack of appropriate regulation.”  Interesting that this man who decries an absence of private sector regulation was so loath to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises at the center of this mess:

His record is close to perfect as a stalwart opponent of reforming the two companies, going back more than a decade. The first concerted push to rein in Fan and Fred in Congress came as far back as 1992, and Mr. Frank was right there, standing athwart. But things really picked up this decade, and Barney was there at every turn

Hmmm. .. going back to 1992? Wasn’t Barney then partnered to a man who worked at Fannie Mae?

Interesting that a man who blames the crisis on a paucity of regulation of the private sector has a long record of opposing regulation of the public sector.  Shouldn’t government institutions be subject to greater scrutiny given that they don’t face the same market-place risks as does private ones?

Do you think those media guardians ever willing to expose the supposed hypocrisy of gay Republicans will look into the hypocrisy of this gay Democrat?

I wouldn’t bet on it.

UPDATE:  Seems Frank finally got the message that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac needed additional oversight.  Last year, he sponsored H.R. 1427 which would have strengthened oversight of the GSEs. It passed the House, but died in Chris Dodd’s Senate Banking Committee. So, if he finally found it necessary to regulate the GSEs, long after Republicans had been pushing for such reform, why did he blame an absence of private sector regulation? (Via Instapundit.)

His own legislation shows he understood the necessity of additional oversight of government-sponsored institutions. Guess it’s just too hard for a liberal Democrat to let go of his faith in government interference in the free market.