Frank Run a 'Leaner'
When political prognosticator Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report slightly downgraded House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank's reelection outlook last week from "likely Democrat" to only "lean Democrat," the move made waves in the blogosphere, with remarks like "wow" and "whoa" popping up all over.
Cook's analysis pointed to the fact that Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat who has been in the House since 1981, had begun pumping his own money into his campaign, which is uncharacteristically competitive despite his continuing lead in the polls.
"Very few 30-year incumbents release a poll one day showing them leading 56 percent to 37 percent, then take $200,000 out of their retirement plan to fund their race. Then again, very few incumbents are Barney Frank," Cook wrote.
Cook also noted that, since then, several surveys have shown Frank with less than 50% voter preference, including a recent Boston Globe poll putting him at 46%, to 33% for his Republican opponent Sean Bielat; many independents remained undecided.
Cook's two cents: "That makes some sense after Frank has endured a rough spate of press. … This is an extremely Democratic district, and Frank is still the favorite, but it's a race."
Among the hits Frank has taken in the press recently are criticisms by the Boston Herald (which is endorsing Bielat) of Frank's accepting more than $40,000 from banks and their executives that accepted Troubled Asset Relief Program funds.
"Rep. Barney Frank, in an intensifying clash with GOP upstart Sean Bielat, has pledged not to take campaign cash from lenders that got federal bailouts — yet has raked in more than $40,000 from bank execs and special interests connected to the staggering government loans, a Herald review found," the newspaper reported on Oct. 22.
The article pointed to an Oct. 21 campaign disclosure in which Frank reported getting $17,000 from top executives of Bank of America Corp. — including $2,000 from its chief executive, Brian Moynihan.
In an interview with American Banker last week, Frank said that the criticisms made by his opponent are distorted and unfounded. He said he only pledged not to take money from Tarp banks while they had such funds outstanding. If they had paid back the money, he did not see a problem.
"I don't think they entered a lifetime ban. I think that's just silly," Frank said. "I think demonizing people who took Tarp money is a great mistake. … I think it was a very successful program, and it is an example of his demagoguery on this and the notion that people who got Tarp money and paid it back to the government with interest, the notion that there is something wrong in dealing with them makes no sense."
Aide-to-Lobbyist
Courtney Geduldig, the chief financial counsel to Sen. Bob Corker, is leaving the Tennessee Republican's office in late November to be a managing director in charge of federal government relations for the Financial Services Forum and its chief counsel starting Dec. 1.
Geduldig has worked for Corker since March 2008. Previously she worked at the forum as its senior vice president for government relations and for the Treasury Department as a deputy assistant secretary for legislative affairs. She also worked as a director of congressional affairs at the Consumer Bankers Association.
Taking over Geduldig's post in Corker's office as the lead legislative aide for Banking Committee issues is Michael Bright from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. At the OCC, Bright was a lead analyst for mortgage banking, home equity and capital markets-related, large-bank regulatory issues. Before the OCC, he was a senior trader at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, N.C.
Bright is to start Nov. 8.
A Goat in Crisis
Bankers may think they have challenges to overcome in reducing distressed real estate properties, but they should be thankful they don't lend money for goats.
A "news" item in The Onion last month poked fun at the persistent housing troubles with the headline: "Microlender Forecloses on Goat."
The satirical paper reported that the fictional lender began foreclosure proceedings on the farm animal after "a borrower's repeated failure to make her $2.20 monthly loan payments." The loan officer was quoted as saying, " 'I'd love to recoup the entire $22 loan at auction, but given the glut of foreclosed and abandoned goats in the area, I'd be lucky to get even half that.' "
