THE
SHORT FORM
Today
is Barney’s birthday.
I
can’t tell you how old, but divisible by 5 and 10 and I’m almost
certain he’s older than I am – and I’m old.
It
would be terrific if you wanted to chip
in with a gift. Not only will it make him smile (and how often do you see
THAT?) . . . it will help him get the truth out (see “the long
form,” that follows).
the
long form
I’ve
stood in awe of Barney Frank since he was a resident tutor, debating my fellow
undergraduates at lunch and dinner (did anyone get up for breakfast?) with a
wit and energy that left these one-time valedictorians helpless with laughter
and hewn by logic.
All
of us knew he loved politics, and knew equally well he could never be IN
politics – though he’d be perfect for the cigar-filled back room
– because he was not, shall we say, politically coiffed (“Neatness
Isn’t Everything,” read an early campaign poster).
And
there was the matter of his mouth, a [bleep]ing [bleep]storm of profanity.
And
there was the other thing, which would not have occurred to anyone else
but eventually dawned on me. His eyes were going the same place mine were.
That
Barney is now, on this big birthday, widely acknowledged to be one of the most
formidable orators in Congress, a pivotal figure in shaping the nation’s
financial future, and a steely-tough public advocate on the issue we both once
kept so deeply secret, makes me burst with pride at knowing him. (Charles will
tell you I burst too easily – “don’t gush,” he has been
known to say – but here it is justified.)
I
marvel at Barney’s brilliance and courage . . . whether it be when he
comes right back at Dick Armey for “mispronouncing” his last name
(the former Majority Leader, you may recall, pronounced it “fag”)
or when he and his partner Jim walk with dignity through a crowd of health care
opponents loudly mispronouncing it the same way.
So
in any circumstance, I’d want to send Barney a birthday gift.
But
as it happens, this year he actually needs one.
A
few days ago, I got the letter that follows. If you’re on his list, you
probably got it, too.
I’d
urge you to share it with YOUR list, and invite them, too, to chip something in to show support
for his decades of leadership and public service, and to help him keep fighting
for the principles many of us share.
Here’s
the link . . . www.actblue.com/page/Barney.
And
here’s the letter . . .
Dear [Friend],
Surprise! I am
asking you for money. But there is a little variety in this request, which is almost
certainly one of a series you have gotten from me over a number of years. I
have usually written to acknowledge that I was not in dire need of campaign
contributions, but I did note that I needed some funding.
This letter is different. I do not think I am going
to be defeated. But I have been the target of a concerted smear campaign aimed
at tying me down so I am less able to do the work necessary to pass legislation
to prevent another financial crisis and to protect our economy. The Washington
Post called the bill we passed in December "the most sweeping overhaul of
the nation's financial regulatory system since the Great Depression." I
was pleased that Paul Krugman wrote that it made needed changes to our
financial system and that it was an appropriate response to the crisis.
Here is an example of why I need your support. In
November, John Fund, a member of the
extremely conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board, about me in a speech. He announced that
I was sponsoring legislation to allow every breathing adult in the United
States to vote whether or not they met a whole range of eligibility standards,
including whether or not they were in the country legally. This, Fund said,
was part of a broader scheme by liberals to win elections fraudulently. His
statement was not a misquote; it was not taken out of context; it was not a
misreading of a more complicated piece of legislation - it was a lie with no factual basis whatsoever.
The fact that this
claim was completely fictitious did not prevent it from being echoed by Mr.
Fund's fellow right-wingers - Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, the Reverend Moon's
Washington Times, and many right-wing blogs. I learned of this when I had some
constituents angrily ask me why I was supporting this. I said I not only was
not a sponsor of such legislation, I had never heard of such a bill. When my staff investigated further,
they found no evidence of such a bill in either the House or Senate.
I exposed this example of
the right-wing propaganda machine in a speech on the floor of the House on
February 3rd, 2010, both to defend myself, but also to call
attention to this right-wing pattern of introducing a lie and then
repeating it in various media outlets.
This is of course not the only complete inaccuracy
about me that is being propagated. I find myself given extraordinary powers
that I did not know I had to influence Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay, since part
of the right-wing effort to derail financial reform is that the crisis was not
caused by financial irresponsibility and a lack of regulation, but rather by a
liberal plot to push more and more low-income people into loans they could not
afford. Apparently, we accomplished this
in various legislative ways from 1995 to 2006 during which the Republicans of
course were in total control of the House. The fact that in 2007, when I first became Chairman, we quickly passed a tough bill regulating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (as noted by Bush Treasury Secretary Paulson in his book) makes no difference to
the right-wing machine.
This barrage of inaccuracy obviously has had an effect
in my own district as well as elsewhere. Unfortunately, refuting multiple and
repeated lies takes money. That said, I have greater need for help this year
than I have had in some time.
So I write you today unlike in my previous letters
asking that you contribute as much as you can. I promise that I will use the
money not simply to refute the torrent of misinformation aimed at me,
but also to expose this pattern of right-wing propaganda which has,
unfortunately, been met with too little
fight back from its victims. The right-wing has, I was told in 2008, decided
to make an example of me because of their unhappiness with my advocacy on a
range of issues. I willingly accept that challenge, for it is one of the most
important battles of this decade. But it will take money for me to do it
effectively and so I ask for your help.
Signed/BARNEY FRANK
DCTH
DCTH closed at $8.42 yesterday, up from $5.37 (or $4.61) when first
mentioned a couple of months ago. My advice: don’t sell.