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[Jonm1010]

He was talking about them too. 2010 and 2014 are shameful

Nah, he spends most of his time pointing the finger at voters, but primarily Sanders supporters and then later tv and film. Never questioning what failures the party is guilty of. Which I think is just as large of a component if not the largest component.

And don't get me wrong, he makes some good points in his Bernie segment but I think his preferences and biases stop a good but flawed and incomplete insight from being a great one. That and it is a bit presumptuous and as already said short-sighted.

 

[excelsiorlef]

What did he do?

http://www.advocate.com/commentary/2014/10/01/op-ed-what-barney-frank-still-gets-wrong-enda

He basically dropped trans protection from the bill because they didn't have the vote to pass it with trans included and then spoke stupidly about the trans community. Not transphobic per se but condescending and paternalistic

 

[Kyosaiga]

Nah, he spends most of his time pointing the finger at voters, but primarily Sanders supporters and then later tv and film. Never questioning what failures the party is guilty of. Which I think is just as large of a component if not the largest component.

And don't get me wrong, he makes some good points in his Bernie segment but I think his preferences and biases stop a good but flawed and incomplete insight from being a great one. That and it is a bit presumptuous and as already said short-sighted.

What makes you think he's not aware of the Party's flaws?

 

[thehypocrite]

He's wrong. The objective of modern financial system it's rent-seeking.
Also blaming the voters it's pathetic when those same voters gave Democrats an absolute majority that the party used to do squat in the name of policies and whose shinny beacon it's a gutted ACA.

 

[Wolfgunblood Garopa]

He's wrong. The objective of modern financial system it's rent-seeking.
Also blaming the voters it's pathetic when those same voters gave Democrats an absolute majority that the party used to do squat in the name of policies and whose shinny beacon it's a gutted ACA.

Squat? Are you sure?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/111th_United_States_Congress

Let's look at the 112th for comparison's sake

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/112th_United_States_Congress

 

[Orbis Tabula]

He's wrong. The objective of modern financial system it's rent-seeking.
Also blaming the voters it's pathetic when those same voters gave Democrats an absolute majority that the party used to do squat in the name of policies and whose shinny beacon it's a gutted ACA.

Isn't the 111th Congress considered one of the most productive sessions in history?

 

[flkraven]

The same guy who passed the most significant piece of financial regulation in decades.

I work for a telecommunications company, does that mean I support data caps, slow speeds, and local monopolies?

Of course you corporate tool!!

 

[Slayven]

So much truth.

 

[reggieandTFE]

Do you think she should release her Wall Street speeches?

Yeah, but I don’t think anybody is really against her because she won’t. By the way, I think Sanders has been outrageously McCarthyite on that.
McCarthyite?

Yes, I saw one commercial that said the big companies weren’t punished. Why? Well, maybe it’s because Hillary is getting speaking fees. So the secretary of state should have been indicting people? I mean, yes, McCarthyite in the sense that it’s guilt by association. He complains about what she did with regards to all this money stuff. Where’s the beef of that?
OK—

What Sanders basically says is, “They’re trying to bribe you.” Well what do they get for money? He shows nothing.

This is an honestly terrible and terrifying answer. He's using the same logic the Supreme Court used to justify Citizens United: "Money is just speech and protected by the 1st amendment, there's no evidence it has a negative effect on our political system." I can't believe people are praising him.

Raising McCarthyism is only the cherry on his shit sundae as he raises the specter of communism against a socialist candidate to help dismiss him,"Don't worry, Hillary's got your back. Ain't shit gonna change." He's preaching to Wall St here and you're all eating it up.

 

[thehypocrite]

Squat? Are you sure?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/111th_United_States_Congress

Let's look at the 112th for comparison's sake

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/112th_United_States_Congress

Isn't the 111th Congress considered one of the most productive sessions in history?

The low voter turnout on subsequent years reflect the disillusion felt by the actions of Obama's first 2 years.

 

[Wolfgunblood Garopa]

The low voter turnout on subsequent years reflect the disillusion felt by the actions of Obama's first 2 years.

Are you sure you want to know the truth, or do you have a narrative here.

 

[Orbis Tabula]

The low voter turnout on subsequent years reflect the disillusion felt by the actions of Obama's first 2 years.

The low turnout in the 2010 midterms doesn't really seem outside the norm for midterm turnout. It's basically in line with where it's been since the 60s. I'm not sure we can really blame it on Obama's actions given that.

 

[Nuu]

Barney Frank is like a shitty alternate version of Bernie Sanders.

Says the guy who's now a lobbyist for Big Business. Guy's a corrupt tool.

And was instrumental in causing the financial crash.

EDIT - A little hyperbole. But he did contribute to it.

 

[Kyosaiga]

Barney Frank is like a shitty alternate version of Bernie Sanders.



And was instrumental in causing the financial crash.

.....

This has to be a joke post.

 

[noshten]

Barney Frank who wanted to have Hillary run unopposed, attacked Warren for considering, attacked MoveOn for trying to draft Warren, attacked MSNBC viewers for not being realistic about the reality of the US - that Barney Frank?

 

[Wolfgunblood Garopa]

Barney Frank is like a shitty alternate version of Bernie Sanders.



And was instrumental in causing the financial crash.

Bernie Sanders Purity Test: FAILED

 

[Nuu]

.....

This has to be a joke post.

Hyperbole, but he did contribute toward it.

Bernie Sanders Purity Test: FAILED

I've been talking shit about Frank LONG before the primaries.

My beef with him has always been his political philosophy first and foremost.

 

[Poodlestrike]

The low voter turnout on subsequent years reflect the disillusion felt by the actions of Obama's first 2 years.

No, I'm afraid that's Fox News bullshit.

It's not that 2010 was unusually low, 2008 was unusually high. 2010 was more or less in line with midterm turnout since the 60s. And since the lower turnout favors Republicans, they took back a lot of seats that flipped in the anomalous 2008 election, creating the impression of a wave. This was also the rise of the tea party, which is why the seats that flipped were generally much further right than they were in 06.

You seem to have been suckered into believing Republican propaganda. Whoops.

 

[Nuu]

No, I'm afraid that's Fox News bullshit.

It's not that 2010 was unusually low, 2008 was unusually high. 2010 was more or less in line with midterm turnout since the 60s. And since the lower turnout favors Republicans, they took back a lot of seats that flipped in the anomalous 2008 election, creating the impression of a wave. This was also the rise of the tea party, which is why the seats that flipped were generally much further right than they were in 06.

You seem to have been suckered into believing Republican propaganda. Whoops.

It can be little of both. Usually high turnout presidential elections are followed by high turnout midterms. The fact that the midterms were "average" after a huge wave of Democratic votes is telling.

I’m not a drama critic. Part of the problem is there is a tendency in the media to demonize politics to the extent that it’s become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Whether with Jon Stewart or House of Cards or The Big Short. It basically tells people, “Everybody stinks, they’re all no good,” and that’s one of the reasons people don’t participate.

I agree with this though. Politics on shows like House of Cards is about as accurate as high school dramas portraying high school.

 

[Adaren]

I don't disagree here.

Also 75% of the acting in that movie was actively terrible imo.

 

[theignoramus]

Why doesn't this interview disclose the fact he's working in an advisory capacity for the Clinton campaign?
I would think readers should know that hes the furthest thing from a neutral observer, especially with him being specifically asked to comment on Bernie Sanders.

 

[linsivvi]

This is an honestly terrible and terrifying answer. He's using the same logic the Supreme Court used to justify Citizens United: "Money is just speech and protected by the 1st amendment, there's no evidence it has a negative effect on our political system." I can't believe people are praising him.

Raising McCarthyism is only the cherry on his shit sundae as he raises the specter of communism against a socialist candidate to help dismiss him,"Don't worry, Hillary's got your back. Ain't shit gonna change." He's preaching to Wall St here and you're all eating it up.

I agree I don't really see what is so "gold" about his completely dishonest comments. It is the kind of bullshit I would expect a Republican say.

He has been a Hillary shrill since last year. Every time he opened his mouth it is to shit on Sanders. He even preemptively tried to shit on Elizabeth Warren and said she would lose credibility if she ran for president. I mean, how fucked up can this guy be?

Barney Frank who wanted to have Hillary run unopposed, attacked Warren for considering, attacked MoveOn for trying to draft Warren, attacked MSNBC viewers for not being realistic about the reality of the US - that Barney Frank?

This.

 

[flkraven]

It can be little of both. Usually high turnout presidential elections are followed by high turnout midterms. The fact that the midterms were "average" after a huge wave of Democratic votes is telling.

Any chance you have some support for this claim? I am not arguing otherwise, but I would just like to see some numbers that show the difference between 2010 and other midterms that followed higher-turnout elections.

 

[theignoramus]

The man does speaking engagements. He's retired, he has no power anymore.

He's literally played a part in outlining Clintons economic platform. http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/hillary-clinton-barney-frank-wall-street-dodd-214532
It really annoys me that Slate doesn't disclose this information to its readers.
edit:I just asked the interviewer on twitter just now why he didnt inform his readers this man is on Clintons payroll. Lets see what he says.

 

[ahoyhoy]

Frank passing the blame on Dem voters exemplifying:

 

[NeoXChaos]

Any chance you have some support for this claim? I am not arguing otherwise, but I would just like to see some numbers that show the difference between 2010 and other midterms that followed higher-turnout elections.

 

[AlphaDump]

And it won't be because of people like Frank lobbying against it.

Try again.

lol.. that is some impressive cognitive dissonance

 

[A Human Becoming]

He's right on pretty much all counts, and those here trying to put down fucking Barney Frank are amazingly off base.

Barney Frank most definitely speaks truths, but I can't take everything he takes seriously after he called people to consolidate behind Hillary months before the primaries even started. It's a pretty anti-democracy stance and I find his rationale questionable:

I know that there is a counter-argument made by some on the Democratic left that a closely contested nomination process will help our ultimate nominee — that Clinton will somehow benefit from having to spend most of her time and campaign funds between now and next summer proving her ideological purity in an intraparty fight, like Mitt Romney in 2012 — rather than focusing on her differences with the conservative she will face in the election. But neither an analysis of the current political situation nor the history of presidential races supports this.

I believe strongly that the most effective thing liberals and progressives can do to advance our public policy goals — on health care, immigration, financial regulation, reducing income inequality, completing the fight against anti-LGBT discrimination, protecting women’s autonomy in choices about reproduction and other critical matters on which the Democratic and Republican candidates for president will be sharply divided — is to help Clinton win our nomination early in the year. That way, she can focus on what we know will be a tough job: combating the flood of post- Citizens United right-wing money, in an atmosphere in which public skepticism about the effectiveness of public policy is high.

Came off as a tool.

 

[jmood88]

Frank passing the blame on Dem voters exemplifying:

Nah, it is the fault of the voters. The people who stayed home on 2010 are responsible for giving us one of the most worthless congresses ever.

 

[royalan]

Barney Frank most definitely speaks truths, but I can't take everything he takes seriously after he called people to consolidate behind Hillary months before the primaries even started. It's a pretty anti-democracy stance and I find his rationale questionable:

Came off as a tool.

Barney Frank is a retired congressman, not a mechanism of the government. He has no responsibility to be democratic in his opinions, especially in this case when he isn't at all wrong about Bernie.

It isn't enough to claim he's biased. Show us how he is. Where is he wrong here?

 

[thehypocrite]

Are you sure you want to know the truth, or do you have a narrative here.

The low turnout in the 2010 midterms doesn't really seem outside the norm for midterm turnout. It's basically in line with where it's been since the 60s. I'm not sure we can really blame it on Obama's actions given that.

No, I'm afraid that's Fox News bullshit.

It's not that 2010 was unusually low, 2008 was unusually high. 2010 was more or less in line with midterm turnout since the 60s. And since the lower turnout favors Republicans, they took back a lot of seats that flipped in the anomalous 2008 election, creating the impression of a wave. This was also the rise of the tea party, which is why the seats that flipped were generally much further right than they were in 06.

You seem to have been suckered into believing Republican propaganda. Whoops.

I disagree with that assertion. If Obama captivated such greater number of voters the onus is on the Democratic party to keep them engaged, not the voters themselves.

How come blaming the voters is correct here? The gatekeepers of democracy and representation are the political parties, that's the system, don't turn around and blame the voters when you loose their attention and interest.

I also don't watch/consume fox news besides some debate event. I have no idea what rhetoric they try to push in regards to this topic.

Also, you are all focusing on 2010 but 2012 had lower turnout as well.

 

[andythinkpad]

Some valid "arguments" but he doesn't seem to understand the source of Bernie supporters' anger.

 

[Team Alucard]

I am disappointed by the voters who say, “OK I’m just going to show you how angry I am!” And I’m particularly unimpressed with people who sat out the Congressional elections of 2010 and 2014 and then are angry at Democrats because we haven’t been able to produce public policies they like. They contributed to the public policy problems and now they are blaming other people for their own failure to vote, and then it’s like, “Oh look at this terrible system,” but it was their voting behavior that brought it about.

Yeah, keep blaming the voters for your own party's failure to motivate and appeal to the electorate with a message that gets people excited.

"Vote for us because we're not Republicans" is not a solid message btw.

This entitlement is why I'm never voting Democrat again until they get their shit together.

 

[VendettaRed07]

I wish Warren could have run honestly because she's basically Bernie with a political brain, but Barnie was probably right when saying that running would have damaged her and her credibility within the senate.

She hasn't endorsed Bernie for a reason. She knows she would have had to moderate and walk a lot of things back because she couldn't be the politician she currently is and have any hope for winning. She's better off maintaining her positions and being on the front lines on the attack for Dems in the senate.

 

[flkraven]

Does this support his claim though? It looks like midterm turn out actually went up in 2010 vs 2006?

 

[VendettaRed07]

Frank passing the blame on Dem voters exemplifying:

The blame is fine considering the current state of anger and expectation liberals have from the government.

Not voting in midterms if fine if you are happy with gridlock or just don't care. But if it makes you so angry you are demanding a political revolution and didn't participate when the party needed you then I don't know what to say.

We don't need a revolution, we need people who want change to vote in midterms.

 

[Cesare Borgia]

The low voter turnout on subsequent years reflect the disillusion felt by the actions of Obama's first 2 years.

Huh? Unemployment was 10%. Voters were angry, and supporters were disillusioned. There's nothing that could have been done to magically solve the recession in two years.

 

[Curufinwe]

So it seems like you’re saying Bernie’s voters have a slightly unrealistic sense about the political process. And that this is driven—

I didn’t say slightly.

OK.

This is fantastic.

 

[Nuu]

Any chance you have some support for this claim? I am not arguing otherwise, but I would just like to see some numbers that show the difference between 2010 and other midterms that followed higher-turnout elections.

The turnout for 2010 midterms was record holding...for Republicans. For Democrats it was below 2006, which to be fair was a high mark. After the wave of Democratic enthusiasm that began in 2006 it started to decline in 2010 and plateued back to where it was in the '90s in 2014.

Barney Frank who wanted to have Hillary run unopposed, attacked Warren for considering, attacked MoveOn for trying to draft Warren, attacked MSNBC viewers for not being realistic about the reality of the US - that Barney Frank?

He comes across as being part of the "Super Left" coalition, but he only partly fits that bill at best.

 

[Silvard]

Yeah, keep blaming the voters for your own party's failure to motivate and appeal to the electorate with a message that gets people excited.

"Vote for us because we're not Republicans" is not a solid message btw.

This entitlement is why I'm never voting Democrat again until they get their shit together.

Wow, this is extremely ironic.

 

[A Human Becoming]

Barney Frank is a retired congressman, not a mechanism of the government. He has no responsibility to be democratic in his opinions, especially in this case when he isn't at all wrong about Bernie.

It isn't enough to claim he's biased. Show us how he is. Where is he wrong here?

Oh so if he no longer works for the government but remains a member of the Democratic Party (a superdelegate at that) it's okay for him to say forgo democracy? There's a fine line between being pragmatic and a tool.

He already said he's a Clinton supporter: that's enough of a bias right there. There's also the fact he worked closely with the finance industry. He's right that a purity test is not fair, but he came off very defensive in this article regarding the issue. He goes to the far other side discounting corruption ever happens with statements like this:

Is this money corrupting? In my own experience, it’s more reasonable to see it as a form of political self-defense unlikely to dilute their support for reform. For liberals to demonize those who do so is a needless self-inflicted wound for their cause.

 

[theignoramus]

Barney Frank is a retired congressman, not a mechanism of the government. He has no responsibility to be democratic in his opinions, especially in this case when he isn't at all wrong about Bernie.

It isn't enough to claim he's biased. Show us how he is. Where is he wrong here?

Barney Frank advising Clinton on Wall Street plan
The Democratic presidential front-runner is close to outlining her vision for policing the financial system

 

[AlphaDump]

Barney Frank advising Clinton on Wall Street plan
The Democratic presidential front-runner is close to outlining her vision for policing the financial system

The Democratic presidential front-runner is close to outlining her vision for policing the financial system, building on 2010's sweeping post-crisis regulatory overhaul known as Dodd-Frank. One of the bill's namesake authors, former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), has been giving input to Clinton's campaign about her plan in recent weeks.

So he is giving input to a democrat running for president on how to execute the bill he helped draft, hence Dodd-Frank.

And thats bad? wow...

 

[thehypocrite]

Huh? Unemployment was 10%. Voters were angry, and supporters were disillusioned. There's nothing that could have been done to magically solve the recession in two years.

It's like if Obama deflated them by his Wall Street pandering and bailout. There they saw him sacrificing their hopes at the altar of big money.

Glad to see you agree.

 

[theignoramus]

So he is giving input to a democrat running for president on how to execute the bill he helped draft, hence Dodd-Frank.

And thats bad? wow...

Dont be disingenuous. It doesnt mean hes "bad" per se, it means whatever he says about Sanders ought to be taken with a grain of salt, seeing as hes literally on the payroll of the opposing campaign.

 

[AlphaDump]

Dont be disingenuous. It doesnt mean hes "bad" per se, it means whatever he says about Sanders ought to be taken with a grain of salt, seeing as hes literally on the payroll of the opposing campaign.

I am not. Who better consult for implementing Dodd-Frank than Barney Frank? Sure as hell wouldnt hurt, and shows uniformity with democrats by working with eachother.

Sanders seems to not acknowledge the Act's significance, and seems to almost talk over it. That is disingenuous.

 

[Orbis Tabula]

I disagree with that assertion. If Obama captivated such greater number of voters the onus is on the Democratic party to keep them engaged, not the voters themselves.

How come blaming the voters is correct here? The gatekeepers of democracy and representation are the political parties, that's the system, don't turn around and blame the voters when you loose their attention and interest.

I also don't watch/consume fox news besides some debate event. I have no idea what rhetoric they try to push in regards to this topic.

Also, you are all focusing on 2010 but 2012 had lower turnout as well.

I agree. I didn't blame the voters. I just disagreed with your assertion that the 111th didn't do anything. They did a lot. Quite possibly as much as any Congress could have. The party deserves a lot of blame for not being able to sell their successes to the American people and get voters out in the midterms.

 

[A Human Becoming]

I am not. Who better consult for implementing Dodd-Frank than Barney Frank? Sure as hell wouldnt hurt, and shows uniformity with democrats by working with eachother.

I'm not sure why you mention uniformity. More importantly, you do acknowledge he can consult without cheer-leading for Clinton and criticizing her opponent (fair or not)? Not everyone who consults with campaigns is doing that.

 

[AlphaDump]

I'm not sure why you mention uniformity. More importantly, you do acknowledge he can consult without cheer-leading for Clinton and criticizing her opponent (fair or not)? Not everyone who consults with campaigns is doing that.

Because that is how you get shit done.

 

[thehypocrite]

I agree. I didn't blame the voters. I just disagreed with your assertion that the 111th didn't do anything. They did a lot. Quite possibly as much as any Congress could have. The party deserves a lot of blame for not being able to sell their successes to the American people and get voters out in the midterms.

Yeah, I concede I worded that poorly, my bad EskimoJoe.