Dean Baker on Barney Frank
“O’Reilly Factor” 08:24pm
Commentary
TOPIC: Barney Frank, housing crisis, Freddie and Fannie Mac, Greenspan
TRANSCRIPT:
O’REILLY: As you know, a combination of greed and political apathy at the federal level has brought massive pain to many Americans. And Congressman Barney Frank is one of the problems Now he’s running for reelection in Massachusetts. But does Frank assume any responsibility for his terrible performance?
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STEPHEN MOORE: I wouldn’t say that Barney Frank is the most responsible American for this financial crisis, but I’d put him in maybe the top three or four. Maybe say Alan Greenspan’s the most responsible.
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DEAN BAKER: Well, I think you’re misplacing blame here. I mean, Barney Frank I’d have on my list, but maybe in the top 1,000, top 10,000. There were a lot of people that missed the bubble. And I think a lot of people deserve a lot of blame.
I was out there haranguing everyone I could for the last six years about the housing bubble, saying that it was going to end very badly. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac weren’t giving out loans because they wanted to help poor people. They were giving out loans because they were making money hand over fist. And in fact, they were relatively minor players in the sense that they got big into the subprime and all day these questionable mortgages because they were losing market share.
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O’REILLY: But he could have warned. He could have been Paul Revere, who — another Massachusetts person. He didn’t.
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BAKER: There’s 1,000 people here in Washington and New York and the media who could have and should have been.
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BAKER: Secretary Paulson said the same thing. Look, I’m not happy about it. I have criticized him for it. I’ve criticized Fannie and Freddie. I’ve criticized Barney Frank.
I just don’t see holding him up as one – number three. I mean, he might be in the top thousand, but I don’t think number three.
LABEL: DB BF FNC 10-28-08 20.24 (MS#60) | 
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