"It's Time for Barney"

Beany (Barney), Cecil (Herb) and the Leakin' Lena (the country)


I remember when I was a kid in the early 50s, one of my favorite TV shows was a ridiculous puppet show called "Beany". In this show, the main character, a kid named Beany, was aboard the "Leakin' Lena", and as he sailed the seven seas, he was accompanied by Cecil, "the seasick sea serpent", who would pop out the water to interact with his pal, Beany.

So, with a couple of minor adjustments, let's return to those days of yesteryear and visit "Barney and Herb, the lovesick Fannie Mae executive".

Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) and former resident of a male bordello being run by his then-boyfriend in Washington, for which he was reprimanded by the House (the Congress House-not the bordello house), has spent long years serving on House committees regulating and overseeing financial institutions in the US. In this regard, Barney has made the phrase "conflict of interest" his middle name.

From the late 1980s to the late 1990s, Beany, I mean Barney was romantically involved with one Herb Moses, who was then a high ranking lovesick executive with Fannie Mae-responsible for the home loan end of the business (he worked for Fannie Mae from 1991-1998). At the time, Frank was sitting on the Banking Committee, which was overseeing Fannie Mae.

Conflict of interest? Naah!

In 2003, Frank (now broken up with Cecil, I mean Herb, but still knowing where his bread was buttered) and other Democrats were defending Fannie Mae against Republican efforts to reign in the quasi-governmental entity, which was showing signs of being out of control. Of course, we now know that Barney has received over $40,000 in contributions from Fannie Mae in the past decade.

Conflict of interest? Naah!

We also know that Barney (now Chairman of the Banking Committee), was putting pressure on Fannie and Freddie Mac in recent years to extend home loans to low-income borrowers-threatening them with investigations into their "discrimitory lending policies" if they didn't.

Did Barney have anything to do with the "Leakin' Lena", I mean financial crisis that is largely due to these insane lending practices? Naah!

In addition, as late as July of this year, Barney was stating publicly that Fannie Mae was sound. We know different now, don't we?

So now, largely due to Barney and his pals, the financial ship of state could be renamed "The Leakin' Lena".

But never mind all that. Now, only one man in Congress can save our economy. Now it is Barney himself who is running for re-election in Massachusetts asking the voters to help him "crack down" on unscrupulous lenders and financial institutions. Talk about chutzpah! Do you think the wise residents of Massachusetts will throw Barney out on his ear?

I seriously doubt it.