Political Circus: Barney Frank in Playboy
Washington (CNN) - Politics is serious business - but not all the time.
He's baring it all - in interview
Rep. Barney Frank, the openly gay Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, is featured in the May edition of Playboy.
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Gay conservatives target Democrats in ad campaign
(CNN) - A political group of gay conservatives will begin airing ads against a handful of Democratic candidates on Monday, including a spot against openly gay congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts.
In a statement, GOProud declares that this is "the first time ever a national gay organization is airing a television advertising campaign going after Democrats."
"Barney Frank is an absolute embarrassment," said Christopher R. Barron, Chairman of GOProud's Board of Directors. "He represents the worst kind of Washington politician."
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Gay conservatives target gay congressman
(CNN) - A political group of gay conservatives will begin airing ads against a handful of Democratic candidates on Monday, including a spot against openly gay Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts.
In a statement, GOProud declares that this is "the first time ever a national gay organization is airing a television advertising campaign going after Democrats."
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Tea Party Express says they'll target Barney Frank
(CNN) - Tea Party Express says they'll add Rep. Barney Frank to their list of lawmakers they're targeting in November's midterm elections.
The national Tea Party organization Tuesday announced that it will go up with ads against the 15-term Democratic congressman from Massachusetts and will hold a rally in the state near the end of their upcoming cross-country bus tour.
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Wall Street reform ready for final votes
Washington (CNNMoney.com) - After a grueling 20-hour session, lawmakers early Friday finished melding the House and Senate Wall Street reform bills, bringing Congress closer to passing the most sweeping changes to the financial system since the New Deal.
Finishing at 5:39 a.m. ET, 43 lawmakers agreed to send to their respective chambers a final bill that aims to strengthen consumer protection, shine a light on complex financial products, create a new process for taking down giant, failing financial firms, and make them stronger to prevent such failure.
The votes were 20-11 among House negotiators and 7-5 among Senate negotiators, strictly along party lines. The room erupted into claps and hugs when it was all done, with staffers shaking hands and saying, "big bill."
Related: What's in the reform bill?
In one of their final votes, lawmakers renamed the legislation the Dodd-Frank Bill for the lawmakers who led the work on the reforms: Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass. The chamber erupted in cheers on the motion's approval.
"It's the most extraordinary experience," Frank said. "You hate to have the kind of pain that so many people went through in this economic crisis, but it just doubled our resolve to get it done."
Frank and Dodd insisted on pushing forward and wrapping up the negotiations, to ready the bill for final passage by each chamber before Congress adjourns for the Independence Day recess.
Barney Frank takes aim at Gingrich, conservative talk show hosts
(CNN) - Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, known for his unabashed bluntness, took aim at conservative radio and TV hosts Thursday night and said the foundation for today's often ruthless partisanship in Washington stems from the leadership of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
In an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno Thursday, Frank recalled the atmosphere in Washington during the early 1980s, a time he said when political rivals President Reagan and House Speaker Tip O'Neill would often joke that they were "friends after 5 p.m." But Frank said the atmosphere markedly changed when Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House in 1994.
"A very self-described partisan came to office, Newt Gingrich became the Speaker and he said, 'This is a mistake,'" he said. "That politics gets muffled if you act as if it's just all people with good will disagreeing. So they became angrier, we responded, Democrats to Republicans."
Frank said that when angry and sometimes violent protesters took up liberal causes such as Vietnam, "they didn't have mainstream media people on the radio cheering them on."
"They didn't have people saying, 'You're right.' They didn't have TV stations saying, 'Good for you, go throw another set of epithets.' And I think that part of the problem is that the worst behavior these days gets encouraged rather than discouraged."
Frank rebukes House staffer for taking lobbying job
Washington (CNNMoney.com) - House Financial Services chief Barney Frank publicly denounced a House Financial Services Committee staffer for leaving to become a lobbyist.
Peter Roberson played a key role in writing House financial overhaul legislation and will now lobby on behalf of a company that the legislation
directly impacts. His new employer, Intercontinental Exchange, owns the largest clearinghouse of complex financial products, otherwise known as credit default swaps.
"When Mr. Roberson was hired, it never occurred to me that he would jump so quickly from the committee staff to an industry that was being affected by the committee's legislation," Frank said in a statement.
Protesters hurl slurs and spit at Democrats
Washington (CNN) – Civil rights icon and veteran Rep. John Lewis, D-Georgia, said anti-health care bill protesters Saturday repeatedly yelled the "N" word at him as he left a heath care meeting and walked to the Capitol.
"I haven't seen heard anything like this in more than 40 years, maybe 45." Lewis said. "Since the march from Selma to Montgomery really."
"Yeah, but it's okay," Lewis added. "I've faced this before. So, it reminded me of the 60's. There's a lot of downright hate and anger and people are just being downright mean."
The incident was confirmed by Rep. Andre Carson, D-Indiana, who was walking with Lewis at the time. Protesters were yelling, "'kill the bill, kill the bill' and the 'N' word several times," Carson said.
Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Missouri, released a statement late Saturday saying he too was called the "N" word as he walked to the Capitol for a vote and that he was spat on by one protestor who was arrested by U.S. Capitol Police. Cleaver declined to press charges against the man, the statement said.
Protesters also hurled anti-gay comments at Rep. Barney Frank, D-Massachusetts, who is openly gay, as he left the same health care meeting that Lewis attended in a House office building.
Frank to endorse Sestak's bid to unseat Specter
(CNN) - Rep. Joe Sestak gets the backing of a big name Monday morning as House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank endorses his fellow Democrat's bid for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter.
According to a press release from the Sestak campaign, Frank will endorse the representative from Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district when the two men team up at a news conference in Philadelphia.
Specter, up for re-election next year, is fighting for a sixth term in the Senate. The longtime Republican switched his party identity from Republican to Democrat earlier this year. Even though Specter has the backing of the Democratic Party and the White House, he's facing a primary challenge from Sestak, a former Navy admiral who first won election to Congress in 2006.
In published interviews, Frank has been critical of Specter's party switch.
Polls in Pennsylvania indicate that Specter's large primary lead over Sestak has shrunk to the low double digits.
Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @psteinhausercnn
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