Economic Bailout (in support)

The concept of an economic bailout is something that was supported by people of both political parties. The bailout process was begun by former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and continued by current Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. The bailout process was supported by people on both sides of the aisle within the United States Senate. This was especially true when it came to the Committee Chair Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Ranking Member Richard Shelby of Alabama. Dodd and Shelby both saw the need to bailout the automobile companies as a way of saving manufacturing jobs amongst auto workers. Very few Democrats within the United States Senate opposed the auto bailout so the fact of the matter is that since the American people have been consistently voting to re-elect Democratic representatives and U.S Senators over the last two cycles, the American people must have gotten what they wanted. Traditional conservatives such as Mike Crapo of Idaho of course voted against the bill.

One of the few people who actually spoke eloquently about why he voted against the auto bailout was the junior United States Senator Jon Tester. Tester spoke about a truck that he just bought recently actually got worse gas mileage than a truck he bought four years ago. He desperately wants the auto companies to change up their act when it comes to fuel standards. Tester was in the definite minority on this vote as the will of the people was spoken. President Obama then took action after the auto bailout came into place and General Motors Chief Executive Officer Richard Wagoner refused to change his way of doing business and to meet some of the demands of the legislation. This was despite the fact that his company had received federal tax dollars. Obama then made sure that Wagoner was no longer going to be the CEO of General Motors, going around ignoring federal statutes. It was the right move on behalf of the taxpayers of America to have Wagoner step aside. Ford and others did not have that kind of trouble following the auto bailout.

It could be argued that the Cash for Clunkers was a logical extension of the federal bailout program. The fact of the matter is that the federal government did more to stimulate the auto industry than any program in recent history. The Cash for Clunkers program moved forward despite the objections of some conservatives.

Congressman Barney Frank has become a familiar politician in our family rooms. We have seen him tiptoeing through the quandary of one desperate bill after another that some one or another is trying to push through Congress. Because of Barney Frank's long term association with the Congress of the United States, he is an important person and his opinions hold water since he has the support of people who support him as a representative. We elect people to represent us not because we know everything about everything but because we expect our elected representative to know. That is what a representative of the people is, someone whom we expect to know what is in our best interests. If we discover that his voting record and his initiated bills are not in our best interests, then we vote him out of office. Currently, Congressman Barney Frank has shown himself to be a diplomatic member of Congress allowing for the new administration to make mistakes and trying his best to cover up those mistakes.

He is a loyal member of the Democratic Party. As such he supports his President and must answer his call. Of course, he also represents those voters of Massachusetts who elected him. And, he must answer their call or be voted out of office. Since what I have seen of Mr. Frank is mostly favorable, evenly balanced support and a willingness to withhold criticism, I would say that he is a man who has made peace with himself and can represent us as a knowledgeable member of Congress. And, if saying Ah, Choo, makes me a fellow citizen of Massachusetts , so be it. Because Barney Frank is a decent, hard working member of Congress who is obviously not into hiding his behavior and would expect that no one else hides there's.

A sign of a good politician is an honest politician, and, if ever there was an honest politician, it is Barney Frank. Perhaps, he could call himself Honest Barn. Some people have attacked him because of his open admission to his personal behavior. But, I would rather see someone who tells it like it is then someone who says Don't Ask and Don't Tell and leads secret hate campaigns against people whose personal behavior he finds titallating. Congressman Barney Frank is at work in Congress and not in Congress to accept visitors for Sunday high tea.