Former Representative Barney Frank, a liberal icon who was the key architect of the landmark Wall Street rules enacted by Democrats in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, has entered hospice care at his home in Maine. And as one of his last acts, he is preparing to release a book rejecting his party’s leftism.
A champion of liberal causes during his 32 years representing Massachusetts in the House, Frank says that progressive Democrats have “adopted an agenda that is beyond what is politically acceptable.”
“Until we separate ourselves from that agenda, we can’t win,” he said in an interview Tuesday.
Frank, who served in the House from 1981 to 2013, said he “feels great – no pain, no discomfort”, but has entered hospice care to deal with congestive heart failure. He continues to live in his home in Ogunquit, Maine, where he moved with his husband after retiring from Congress.
“At 86, I’ve made it longer than I thought,” Frank said. “At some point, my heart is just going to give up, and it’s getting to that level. So I’m taking it easy at home and resting and dealing with it.”
Known for his sharp wit and sometimes combative style, Frank chaired the House Financial Services Committee from 2007 to 2011, during the 2008 financial crisis. His name is synonymous with the Democrats’ last signature achievement in the financial policy arena — a sweeping 2010 rewrite of Wall Street oversight known as the Dodd-Frank Act that imposed new scrutiny on U.S. banks.
Asked about his legacy, Frank said Tuesday that he is “very proud of Dodd-Frank.”
“I think we’ve been proven right against our critics on both the left and the right,” he said. He said the only successful legislative effort to roll back the law was limited in scope.
He also points to the country’s developments on gay rights. Frank was the first member of Congress to voluntarily come out as gay and the first member to enter into a same-sex marriage while in office.
“Finally, when I decided to come out in ’87, I felt like when I did… the American people are a lot less homophobic than they thought,” he said. “Unfortunately, more racist, but less anti-gay.”
His latest book is scheduled to be released later this year (“I’m facing a literal deadline, so I don’t know how we’ll keep up with that,” he said of the timing). He is hoping that “my reputation and my record of being on the left will be used to give courage to many of my colleagues who I know agree with me but are hesitant to say so.”
Frank said, “For many of my colleagues, the argument has been, ‘Well, we don’t support defunding the police or open borders, and we don’t even say we do.’ “But my point is that no, remaining silent is not enough. We have to reject this clearly.”
He says he is “not arguing that anyone should stop practicing law.”
“But it’s one thing to advocate for something knowing that you’re going beyond the current approach, and it’s another to make it a litmus test,” he said.
In the ongoing progressive-liberal struggle in his new home state, Frank Graham endorses Gov. Janet Mills for Senate over Plattner.
He said, “I’m a little concerned about the tendency on the Democratic side to have the flavor of the month,” though he credited Plattner for focusing his attacks on incumbent GOP senators. susan collinsNot Mills. “It’s the flirting or the attraction of people who are new and who are very good at reacting angrily, but without talking about what you do about it.”
Overall, however, he believes the GOP is in poor shape in the midterms.
“My one regret is that I will not be able to watch the continued decline of (President) Donald Trump,” he said.
