Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank is one of the most powerful politicians in the country, serving as head of the House Financial Services Committee. And lately, he’s been one of the more outspoken critics of banks receiving bailout money paying big bucks for corporate sponsorships, complaining to the NEW YORK TIMES about Citigroup’s 20-year, $400 million stadium naming deal with the Mets that “marketing expenses should be for real marketing, not ego boosts, which is what I think naming rights are.”
Which is a reasonable position to take; I don’t know if I agree with his assessment that no one “has ever opened a bank account or decided to buy a CD because a bank’s name is on the stadium” - if that’s the case, why do any marketing at all - but it’s a valid point. Of course, when you read Darren Rovell’s column on CNBC today, you start to get a sense that his motives might not be so pure.
It seems Rep. Frank would rather banks stop frittering away money on sports sponsorships and put it where it can go to good use - into his own coiffers. That’s because the securities and investment industry has been Rep. Frank’s main contributor over the past two years, donating more than $230,000 to his campaign. And two of the five individual companies making the largest contributions - Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of America - are among the biggest players in sports marketing and sponsorships.
We can draw a few conclusions from this: perhaps, as Rovell suggests, Rep. Frank is pretty sure the Wall Street well has dried up for contributions, so it’s safe to bite the hand that fed him; or maybe he is a truly heroic public servant, willing to put his political money pipeline at risk in order to do what’s right for the country. Of course, the third, most cynical option is that he’s talking up his opposition to banks “wasting” millions in bailout money while waiting for their checks to clear.
Aren’t you just thrilled that the old way of doing politics in Washington is clearly dead in a post-Obama world?
7:24 pm on February 27th, 2009
Sure, blame Obama for the current mess - when it was the Bush administration that screwed everything up in the first place.
7:25 pm on February 27th, 2009
It's just business as usual in Washington.
7:36 pm on February 27th, 2009
No one's brought up that Barney Frank is gay. So would any criticism of him be considered homophobic?
7:47 pm on February 27th, 2009
Man U-SA:
Maybe nobody's brought up Barney Frank's sexual orientation because it has nothing to do with the story.
8:25 am on February 28th, 2009
Barney Frank is a liar and a thief. Other than that, he's a great American, and the poster child for ethics in the age of Obama.
11:00 am on February 28th, 2009
Bush may have screwed up the last 8 years, but Frank has been a lying pig for over 50 years
12:39 pm on February 28th, 2009
You can only blame bush for so long. Obama is going to do his fair share af messing things up. Change my ass, politics never changes.
2:23 pm on February 28th, 2009
Lookie!SBB is tryin' to be all journalistic and stuff,just expose themselves as a bunch of right-wing hacks
2:35 pm on February 28th, 2009
barney frank protected fannie mae and freddie mac years ago, and when they went belly up, he attacked them and blamed them for this financial mess we are in. typical hypocrite.
also, democrats have controlled congress for a few years now, so they are ALSO to blame for this financial mess, esp. since laws come from congress. liberal idiots!!! CONGRESS HAS THE POWER OVER FINANCIAL MATTERS. GO BACK TO SCHOOL LIBERAL CRITICS!
plus clinton(and other democrats) set in motion the banking industry collapse by forcing banks to give out high risk morgages. this started in the 90's and finally caught up with us. the housing bubble is finally bursting.
9:34 am on March 1st, 2009
This guy is scum, not hero.
5:44 pm on March 5th, 2009
Hey - don't you all realize that Barney Fwank (who was on the banking committee) advocated for Freddie and Fannie Mac to provide loans to the very people who could not afford the housing they purchased? You don't remember? I do. A clue; it was back before the housing crisis began. The worst is he will not own up to any culpability on his part….
1:51 pm on March 7th, 2009
Check this out:
http://www.americanthinker.com/printpage/?url=http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/03/who_is_barney_frank.html
Be informed!
1:07 am on April 17th, 2009
One gets the not-so-subtle impression that CNBC (and Darren Rovell) is fairly ignorant of how banks mainly make their money. Rest assured Barney Frank knows how they do, and thus he's merely biding time while the banks start getting profitable again (which will be as soon as this quarter).