Commentary: Barney Frank, Moderate

The New York Times - By DAVID FIRESTONE - Conservative web sites are already cheering Barney Frank’s announcement that he will retire from his Massachusetts House seat at the end of his term. But whether or not they say so publicly, many Republicans on Capitol Hill will actually miss him. He is the most caustically hilarious member of the House, and is anything but the socialist caricature invented by the right. No one is more withering about the dismal state of the House and the Republican party that controls it, as he demonstrated in his news conference today: “It consists half of people who think like Michele Bachmann,” he said, “and half of people who are afraid of losing a primary to people who think like Michele Bachmann.” But economically, Mr. Frank is essentially a centrist. He believes in markets, supported free-trade agreements, and talks often of the need for a “grand bargain” between business and liberals. Conservatives love to blame him for the housing crisis, pointing to his ties to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Although he could have exercised greater oversight, the connection between the mortgage companies and the subprime crisis is demonstrably false, invented to take the blame away from Wall Street and the big banks. Congress may be losing one of its best-informed and quotable members, but it is not losing a radical. Read column

Commentary: Barney Frank, Moderate