If you listen to Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) defend his role in the meltdown of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, he was just as blindsided as the rest of us when the two government sponsored enterprises collapsed, triggering the financial crisis.

Frank has been peddling this fiction ever since the economy collapsed in September 2008. But as the The Boston Globe notes in a new, devastating article published on October 14, not many people are buying Frank’s lies anymore. And Frank knows it. He’s facing a surprisingly tough reelection fight, so he’s on an apology tour through the media to save his seat. (Judicial Watch does not endorse or oppose candidates for public office.)

Here’s an excerpt from the Globe piece (although I highly recommend you read the article in full):

When US Representative Barney Frank spoke in a packed hearing room on Capitol Hill seven years ago, he did not imagine that his words would eventually haunt a reelection bid.

The issue that day in 2003 was whether mortgage backers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were fiscally strong. Frank declared with his trademark confidence that they were, accusing critics and regulators of exaggerating threats to Fannie’s and Freddie’s financial integrity. And, the Massachusetts Democrat maintained, “even if there were problems, the federal government doesn’t bail them out.”

Now, it’s clear he was wrong on both points…

Here’s the thing. Frank wasn’t wrong. He was lying.

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In today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Francis Cianfrocca to discuss what America can learn from the austerity measures and big budget cuts in Europe, as well as discussion on the real unemployment rate and the Juan Williams NPR firing.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. You can find our iTunes feed at CoffeeandMarkets.com. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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The document trail below reveals some extremely troubling questions for Representative Barney Frank. Is the GAO report cited below truly the first serious investigation of the mortgage meltdown? Did Congress or the Financial Services committee he chairs have access to mortgage meltdown information from other sources, especially with said GAO report already well on its way to completion?

Why was Barney Frank pushing for his “expanding home ownership bill” in the midst of this looming crisis he already has good reason to suspect was going to get worse? Was he pushing it for purely political purposes prior to the 2008 election, while knowing full well the American housing market was headed for disaster and American taxpayers would be left on the hook as a result of his policies?

While not quite a smoking gun, an examination of the record suggests that while Rep. Barney Frank had good reason to be concerned of a pending meltdown in the housing sector, either out of sheer incompetence, or political maneuvering, he did the exact opposite of what he should have done as a representative of the people of Massachusetts.

Via Mortgage News Daily, on April 24, 2007, problems within the mortgage industry were already coming to light. And it was happening right in front of Barney Frank’s committee.

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From The Hill:

Democrats haven’t necessarily gotten the credit they’re due for the work they’ve done the last two years, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said.

Pelosi, in the middle of a tough campaign to defend Democrats’ majority in the House — as well as her own Speakership — seemed to echo a complaint voiced by other Democrats, that obstacles have made it difficult for the party’s message to get through.

“You have all those forces at work, pouring millions of millions of dollars into the media, and now into the campaigns to mischaracterize everything that we did,” Pelosi said in an interview with Politics Daily, video of which was posted Monday. “So that’s that. It’s up to us to go out there. I’m very confident; our members know why they voted for what they did.

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During last month’s Right Nation gathering just outside of Chicago, Andrew Breitbart found himself confronting a group of angry protesters who had been bussed in by the Democratic Party. Full coverage of that epic protest failure can be found here.

At one point a protester wearing an orange rain parka can be heard casting what she seemed to think was a homophobic aspersion about Breitbart, exclaiming,  “I think he’s gay!”

This person has now been identified by multiple sources as a local Democratic Party official named Sue Walton.

We spoke with Sue Walton by phone to tell her that she had been identified, and to offer her a chance to comment and/or deny that she attended the protest, and/or to deny the accuracy of the quote attributed to her. Walton declined our offer, twice.

So far, Democrat response to this very public outburst has been mute.

Democrat candidate for Congress Dan Seals proudly lists Sue Walton’s endorsement on his campaign website. Multiple requests for comment from the Dan Seals campaign went unanswered, and thus far, the Seals campaign has not removed her endorsement.

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Brought to you by ElectionJournal.org, the website that broke the Black Panther intimidation story in 2008.  iReport is the first iPhone application dedicated to reporting voter fraud, intimidation and other election irregularities.

The app is available for free and allows you to join EJ’s nationwide network of citizens dedicated to raising public awareness of election fraud.  With iReport you can send information, along with photos and video, directly from your polling location with your iPhone.

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By now, your mail man… excuse me, mail person, is probably cursing every politician and special interest group out flooding mailboxes with mailers telling you how to vote. Your email inbox is full, and “Robocalls”, those annoying automated phone calls that seem to always come in the middle of dinner, are imparting their recorded wisdom.

Talk show hosts are telling you exactly what you should do, and the people around you are constantly trying to get you to vote their way.

Congratulations, you just became a member of Congress.

Alright, maybe not really, but in a sense, you are going through one day of what goes on for voting members of congress every day of the year. Lobbyists, other politicians, talking heads, etc are constantly trying to sway the congressional members to vote their way.

The result is that they don’t always fully understand what they are voting for, or why. They go along with their influences and vote in accordance, completely forsaking thier duties and responsibilities.

The notorious health care bill was passed by a large amount of people who never read the bill. It is what is helping to spur the Tea Party movement, and energize conservative voters to get out this election and make their voice heard. Chants of “Read the Bill” have been heard at rallies around the nation in protest of the audacity of congress to vote on something they don’t understand…

… But have you done the same?

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Remember back in late March when we caught Harry Reid astroturf “supporters” throwing eggs at the Tea Party Express bus?

And remember how we caught them on camera blaming me for the act they perpetrated, even calling the local police?

Remember then Harry Reid’s local police force driving away when they found out the Democratic Party-directed union astroturf squad was behind throwing the eggs — and not me?

Remember how we caught on tape Nevada Democratic Party Field Director Brian DiMarzio organizing the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 357 who were the ones who threw the eggs?

And remember a befuddled DiMarzio telling a police officer that I was the one who threw the eggs, and speaking to the IBEW Local 357 on a first-name basis?

Well, Mr. DiMarzio, formerly an employee of the AFL-CIO — go figure! — is still employed with the Nevada Democrtic Party even though his nefarious exploits made it on to national TV.

According to the Nevada State Democratic Party website, Mr. Dimarzio is still employed as their Field Director. Until March, I didn’t know what Democratic Party political field directors were until I saw one directing union thugs in the field.

How much money does that pay in this tough economy?

Speaking of big-time salaries within the Democrat/Big Labor Axis:  Remember Eddie Gering?

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Today, in 1415, a vastly outnumbered English force under Henry V annihilated a French Army at Agincourt.

In a report sure to cause consternation at the White House and in the offices of the Democratic Leadership in Congress, “60 Minutes” provided an in-depth report on the realities of the unemployment situation in America today.

When you take into account the underemployed as well as the unemployed, the national rate hits 17% and California a staggering 22%.

To put a face on the realities of the underemployed in America under Obamanomincs, reporter Scott Pelley spoke with a fiber-optics engineering manager who has been looking for work for over a year.  He just took a job working at a Target.   20% of the unemployed in America have college degrees.

According to the report, 1/3 of the unemployed have been out of work for over a year.  This hasn’t happenned since the Great Depression.

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Things are getting desperate out there for Democrats, who have nowhere to hide from their legacy of failure.  Illinois has already gone into bizarre territory with Governor Quinn’s “Vote for Me or the Puppy Gets It” ads. Just when things couldn’t get any bizarre, you have this bit of insanity wafting out of the West Side of Chicago.

Democrat State Senator Ricky Hendon, best known for once getting into a physical altercation with Barack Obama in Springfield, suggested that Republican Governor candidate Bill Brady wanted to execute homosexuals and that all civil rights for women should be ended.

Here is the exact quote:

“I’ve never served with such an idiotic, racist, sexist, homophobic person in my life,” Hendon said before introducing Gov. Quinn. “If you think that the minimum wage needs to be three dollars an hour, vote for Bill Brady. If you think that women have no rights whatsoever, except to have his children, vote for Bill Brady. If you think gay and lesbian people need to be locked up and shot in the head, vote for Bill Brady.”

Apparently, Bill Brady has become the Midwest’s Ghengis Khan leaping from bed to bed siring more children. The context of these remarks was his introduction of Pat Quinn during a Get Out the Vote rally on the West Side.

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James Madison, referring to a bill to subsidize cod fishermen introduced to the First Congress said,

If Congress can employ money indefinitely to the general welfare, and are the sole and supreme judges of the general welfare, they may take the care of religion into their own hands;they may appoint teachers in every State, county and parish and pay them out of their public treasury; they may take into their own hands the education of children, establishing in like manner schools throughout the Union; they may assume the provision of the poor; they may undertake the regulation of all roads other than post-roads; in short, everything, from the highest object of state legislation down to the most minute object of police, would be thrown under the power of Congress…. Were the power of Congress to be established in the latitude contended for, it would subvert the very foundations, and transmute the very nature of the limited Government established by the people of America.”

Prior to that, in Federalist 41, Madison wrote,

Some, who have not denied the necessity of the power of taxation, have grounded a very fierce attack against the Constitution, on the language in which it is defined. It has been urged and echoed, that the power “to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States,” amounts to an unlimited commission to exercise every power which may be alleged to be necessary for the common defense or general welfare. No stronger proof could be given of the distress under which these writers labor for objections, than their stooping to such a misconstruction.”

Madison’s incredible forethought underscores exactly what all Americans are facing today as we move into the November 2^nd Election.

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I’m not serious , of course, but it is rather ironic that Raul Castro is cutting the tax burden on small business at the same time that Obama is pushing for higher tax rates on small business.

Reuters reports on the latest in supply-side communism.

Cuba unveiled on Friday a new tax code it said was friendlier for small business, signaling authorities are serious about building a larger private sector within the state-dominated economy. The new system, outlined in the Communist Party daily Granma, greatly increases tax deductions… The tax redesign comes as the government has begun slashing 500,000 workers from state payrolls and preparing to issue 250,000 self-employment licenses to create new jobs in President Raul Castro’s biggest reform since taking office in 2008.

Unfortunately, Obama seems to views tax issues through the prism of class warfare. This video explains why class warfare tax policy is misguided, and it includes the footage from the 2008 campaign where Obama basically said that he didn’t care whether his proposed tax increase on capital gains led to lower revenue.

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A talk Before a Tea Party rally sponsored by the Cecil County (Md.) Patriots in Elkton, Md., 10/23/10

Twenty months ago, on February 19, 2009, business reporter Rick Santelli of CNBC took to the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to deliver his famous rant against government bail-outs, and call for “a Chicago tea party.”

Santelli may have sparked the Tea Party movement. But he only tapped into outrage that had been growing in many of us for decades.

For too long, you and I have watched helplessly as a clique of politicians, intellectuals, activists, and bureaucrats from both parties have tried to obliterate our Constitution, our capitalist system, and our personal liberty. This “bipartisan Ruling Class”—as scholar Angelo Codevilla describes it—sees itself as a moral, cultural, and intellectual elite. Codevilla says that “Today’s ruling class, from Boston to San Diego, was formed by an educational system that exposed them to the same ideas and gave them remarkably uniform guidance, as well as tastes and habits.”

Oozing sanctimonious arrogance, viewing the rest of us as coarse, unsophisticated rubes who cling bitterly to guns and bibles, this class seeks to impose its own supposedly superior values and visions upon the rest of us, by force of law.

As we know too well, the ultimate goal of our Ruling Class is power. They exist—not to produce, not to invent, not to create—but to manipulate and master others. Ronald Reagan memorably summed up the Ruling Class’s governing outlook this way: “If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.”

By contrast, the rest of us Americans seek power over circumstances, but not over each other. We acquire our personal sense of identity and self-esteem through productive work—not through imposing our will, values, and visions on our neighbors. We accept a “live and let live” philosophy.

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Today, in 1929, was the “Black Thursday” stock market crash. It was the spark of a chain of events which led to “Black Tuesday”, the biggest expansion of US government power and, not surprisingly, the Great Depression.

All the while, Lisa Murkowski’s campaign has been engaged in a smear campaign against Joe Miller. Now, out of the blue, Democrats come out and call her an outright liar?

It was troubling when Murkowski broke her word to voters and refused to abide by the results of the Republican primary as promised. If these accusations are legitimate, all in all, it does not speak well of Lisa Murkowski’s character. And character does matter. She has invoked the name of the late Ted Stevens on her behalf. He can’t speak for himself. However, it appears some individuals Murkowski has claimed endorse her candidacy can – and they are flatly denying it.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTVA-CBS 11 News) Alaska Democrats are calling Sen. Lisa Murkowski a liar, after a mailer went out to many Anchorage residents claiming notable Democrats would be voting for her.
In a statement Murkowski’s campaign manager Kevin Sweeney says the mistake was the campaign’s fault, saying they forgot to change the headline.

The mailer’s banner states: “Alaskan Democrats Who Are Voting for Lisa Murkowski — and not Scott McAdams.” Below the headline are several quotes from politicians including Democratic gubernatorial candidates Ethan Berkowitz and Bob Poe, who dropped out of the governor’s race.

Alaska Democratic Party Chair Patti Higgins says some of the quotes used about the sitting senator are from the past, and many of the candidates have openly stated they will be voting for Scott McAdams.

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President Obama seems to think that every global policy problem is a result of misunderstanding, miscommunication, or mixed signals perpetuated through the Bush presidency.  If we could just get the world to like the United States, Obama argues, these problems will solve themselves.  Multiple unenforced ultimatums for Iran and Obama’s inflated faith in personal diplomacy fail to instill much confidence for the future.

Uncommon Knowledge all-star, Victor Davis Hanson, is back in our latest episode to take a tour of the world with Peter Robinson, discussing current major foreign policy concerns.  The topics discussed range from Europe and the irrelevancy of the EU to Mexico and immigration to Asia and its nuclear future.

Regarding Mexico, VDH sees little hope for the future.  Mexico’s statist, nontransparent economy and class-bound, racist culture naturally breeds unrest.  As for the immigration debate, VDH provides his proposed solution (involving both assimilation and deportation), but recognizes that it is unlikely to come about.  Who’s at fault?  The Chicano elite here in the US.

When it comes to Iran there are no good choices, only bad and worse.  Iran will have the bomb within 18 months.  What can/should we do about it?

To hear more on a dying Europe, a nuclear Asia, the Chicano elite and immigration, our future with Russia and dealing with Iran, watch the full episode, embedded below.

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