US Rep. Barney Frank retiring; won't seek re-election in 2012 - Polidicks

[release]US Representative Barney Frank, the state’s highest-profile congressman and one of the nation’s leading liberal voices after being among its first openly gay elected officials, announced today that he will not seek reelection next year. The Newton Democrat faced the prospect of a bruising reelection campaign next year after surviving a brutal battle in 2010. He also would have run in an altered district that retained his Newton stronghold but encompassed more conservative towns like Walpole. In addition, Frank lost New Bedford, a blue-collar city where he had invested a lot of time and become a leading figure in the region’s fisheries debate. “I don’t have to pretend to be nice to people I don’t like,” the famously irascible Frank told reporters and supporters during an early afternoon news conference at Newton City Hall. Turning serious, he said: “It would have been a rough campaign,” adding, “I don’t like raising money.” As for his future plans, he answered with a barely veiled shot at Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich. “I will neither be a lobbyist nor a historian,” said Frank, noting two jobs that have enriched Gingrich since he stepped down as House speaker. Frank said he intends to pursue “some combination of writing, teaching, and lecturing.” He also offered an interesting regret: “I voted against President Bush, the first, request to go into Iraq,” he said of the congressional vote that preceded the 1991 Persian Gulf War after Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. “If we were back again, I would have voted for that,” said Frank. The current president, fellow Democrat Barack Obama, said, “This country has never had a congressman like Barney Frank, and the House of Representatives will not be the same without him.” Obama credited Frank with helping to pass the Dodd-Frank Act, “the most sweeping financial reform in history designed to protect consumers and prevent the kind of excessive risk-taking that led to the financial crisis from ever happening again.” Frank’s campaign manager last year said his withering 2010 re-election effort spurred the congressman to think seriously about retirement, even saying a few days after the election that it would be his last one. Frank wanted to announce that this would be his final term immediately afterward, but decided against it, said Kevin Sowyrda, the campaign manager. “We looked him right in the face and said, ‘You can’t resign,” Sowyrda said. “In fairness to Barney, he was emotional about it. He said, ‘I know I’ve got to stay.’” “I believe that Barney felt an obligation to come through for the (supporters) people that came through for him,” said Sowyrda. But retirement has been on his mind ever since. “After that election, he began the process of contemplating a different future with different challenges,” Sowyrda said. John Walsh, chairman of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, said in a statement: “In a state that has sent many great leaders to Washington, Barney Frank will take his place in history as a shining son of Massachusetts.” Former party head Philip W. Johnston told the Globe: “He was brilliant, funny, acerbic, strategic, and unashamedly liberal. And they’re in short supply these days.” The Massachusetts Republican Party reveled in the announcement. “It is clear that Congressman Frank was not looking forward to another hard-fought campaign after losing his gerrymandered district and spending nearly every penny he had in 2010. Republicans were already gearing up for a strong race, and Frank’s sudden retirement injects added optimism and excitement into the election,” said party Executive Director Nate Little.” Frank, 71, was raised in Bayonne, N.J., but schooled at Harvard University and Harvard Law School, endowing him with a street-fighter’s mouth and an academic’s wit. He was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1972 and the US House eight years later. He ultimately became a cable TV favorite with his pithy, fearless comments. Once remarking about the nearly $15 billion Big Dig cost, Frank said: “Wouldn’t it be cheaper to raise the city than to depress the Artery?” In 1987, he became the first member of the chamber to voluntarily acknowledge he was gay. Another Massachusetts congressman, US Representative Gerry Studds, had been forced to acknowledge his homosexuality in 1983 after disclosure of a sexual relationship with a House page. In 1989, Frank was involved in a scandal after the revelation that a live-in boyfriend had formerly operated a gay prostitute service from his home. The House ended up reprimanding Frank for the incident. More recently, he has been one of President Obama’s most important allies but also a target of Republicans. They accuse him of helping create the country’s housing collapse by pushing the government and banks into approving loans to unqualified buyers. Frank faced a stern reelection challenge last year from Republican Sean Bielat, prevailing 53 percent to 43 percent but only after a blistering campaign. He also shifted from chairman of the House Financial Services Committee to its top-ranking minority member when Republican regained control of the House of Representatives in last year’s midterm elections. Frank, who co-authored the law overhauling financial regulation and spearheaded its passage as chair of the Financial Services Committee last year, acknowledged himself in February that he had contemplated retirement after last year’s race. But he said after GOP lawmakers took over the House and began targeting the financial overhaul he authored, he decided he needed to try to keep his job. “Some very important programs are at risk,’’ he said then. The announcement comes a week after Governor Deval Patrick signed a law creating the new state congressional districts. Another Democrat in the delegation, US Representative John Olver, announced in October that he would not seek reelection next year amid the specter of being forced into a showdown with US Representative Richard E. Neal of Springfield. Frank has depended on his hometown of Newton, as well as Brookline and the Democratic strongholds of Fall River and New Bedford to keep his seat the last three decades. But he lost New Bedford and picked up additional conservative voting towns west and south of Boston and in Bristol and Norfolk counties. Bielat is weighing a second campaign, and a bevy of Democrats are expended to seek the suddenly open seat. Brookline School Committee member Elizabeth Childs has already announced her candidacy for the GOP nomination. Sowyrda said Frank wanted to hold off on a final decision until the redistricting process was finalized. “When Barney saw the district changed, his exact words to me were ‘They didn’t do me any favors,’” said Sowyrda, who has remained an unofficial adviser. “The redistricting plan was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” added Sowyrda. “I think if they left the district with New Bedford in it, you would see him running again. “The texture of the district had changed.” Brian C. Mooney of the Globe Staff contributed to this report. Glen Johnson can be reached at [email]johnson@globe.com[/email]. Follow him on Twitter @globeglen. Noah Bierman can be reached at [email]nbierman@globe.com[/email]. Follow him on Twitter @noahbierman.[/release] [url=http://www.boston.com/Boston/politicalintelligence/2011/11/barney-frank-not-seek-reelection/mu5wqlSc74sb0USka9ctxK/index.html?p1=News_links]Source: The Boston Globe[/url]

It's going to be a sad day when Bernie Sanders resigns.

I know I'm going to be digging my own box grave here, but.. good riddance.

[QUOTE=Boba_Fett;33479874]I know I'm going to be digging my own box grave here, but.. good riddance.[/QUOTE] If you get dumbs it'll be because you're purposely looking for them Maybe if you'd explain why you don't like this guy's policies you'd come across as more than just a blowhard

[QUOTE=Boba_Fett;33479874]I know I'm going to be digging my own box grave here, but.. good riddance.[/QUOTE] Yes and I'm sure you'd be happy to welcome more and more Libertarians to the House of Representatives, and see every member of the Progressive Caucus retire.

[QUOTE=Zeke129;33480037]If you get dumbs it'll be because you're purposely looking for them Maybe if you'd explain why you don't like this guy's policies you'd come across as more than just a blowhard[/QUOTE] I don't like him because he often comes off as disrespectful, and, at least from my point of view, appears to be a very far-from center type of politician. It also seems to me that he cares a bit more about getting his own policy implemented than actually caring about the economic stability of the nation. In a recent example, he called the failure of the super committee a "victory" for the Democratic party, as it promoted his own economic agenda, despite being a complete and total loss for the collective interest of this country. Again, this is only my view on this. I'm not nearly arrogant enough to claim my position is the best opinion.

Well this article just made me wiki Barney Frank. Apparently he is a p. cool guy. I would vote for him.

[QUOTE=Boba_Fett;33479874]I know I'm going to be digging my own box grave here, but[/QUOTE] why do people do this?

[QUOTE=Boba_Fett;33480499]I don't like him because he often comes off as disrespectful, and, at least from my point of view, appears to be a very far-from center type of politician. It also seems to me that he cares a bit more about getting his own policy implemented than actually caring about the economic stability of the nation. In a recent example, he called the failure of the super committee a "victory" for the Democratic party, as it promoted his own economic agenda, despite being a complete and total loss for the collective interest of this country. Again, this is only my view on this. I'm not nearly arrogant enough to claim my position is the best opinion.[/QUOTE] The failure of the super committee is by far the best possible result that could have occurred. In a 'positive' case, the Democrats would've caved to Republican demands, included no tax revenue, and cut social services with no defense cuts. At least this way we have social service cuts [B]and[/B] defense cuts.

[QUOTE=Boba_Fett;33480499]I don't like him because he often comes off as disrespectful, and, at least from my point of view, appears to be a very far-from center type of politician.[/QUOTE] Any reason other than trolling that you didn't just post this in the first place because, you know, it's an okay opinion to have

Taken out by more GOP redistricting bullshit. Seriously, the first thing those assholes do when they get into office is to shut the doors behind them to prevent any challenges.