Banking Law

As he sees the light at the end of the tunnel (whose tunnel, he's not saying), Barney Frank is growing...well...frank in his opinions about the crowning legislative achievements of the last few years. With respect to Obamacare, he's not kind. He thinks The One made a mistake in pushing that piece of sausage through the grinder, not because the content of the law was unwise in any objective sense, but because the political reality of this selfish society ensured that it would be wildly unpopular.

?The problem with health care is this: Health care is enormously important to people. When you tell them that you?re going to extend health care to people who don?t now have it, they don?t see how you can do that without hurting them. So I think he underestimated, as did Clinton, the sensitivity of people to what they see as an effort to make them share the health care with poor people.?

Yeah, that's it, Barn. Those of us who already have health care don't want to share it with poor people. That's why a majority of Americans don't like Obamacare. Stop sipping that Kool-Aid, Hoss, and start gulping it. You're wasting time with a slow-motion slide into derangement. It's time to go all-in!

As to the pork link that bears his name, however, Barney is positively orgasmic.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is happy with the financial reform law bearing his name, and contends that critics of the measure are either ideologues or uninformed.

[...]

"The conservative critics are just right-wingers who don't want any regulation. And if you listen to the liberals, much of the criticism is uninformed," he said in the wide-ranging interview. "I believe among the people who know what we've done there's great support."

Barney, if people really knew all the things you've done, there wouldn't be enough tar and feathers in North America to allow them all to pitch in on your farewell reception. What we do know is bad enough. Therefore, I think you've got it bass ackwards: In your case, ignorance is bliss.

I'm going to miss Barney come 2013. Then again, we'll still have Maxine Waters to provide blog fodder.