Maria Bartiromo And Barney Frank Were Just At Each Other's Throats For A Solid Ten Minutes

[dipsydoodle]

Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) was just a guest on CNBC's Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo, and quite frankly, the interview went from zero to ugly in less than two minutes.

Maria started off by asking Barney about the topic du jour, Sandy Weill's complete reversal on the concept of a the 'supermarket' mega bank.

Barney responded saying that it was not a useful time to be talking about this because "you can accomplish much of what he's talking about with the Volcker Rule..."

To which Maria replied, after much rambling from Barney, that "the problem with the Volcker Rule is that you can't define it."

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/maria-bartiromo-and-barney-frank-cnbc-interview-2012-7#ixzz21oCh62K0

Scroll down for video.

[UnrepentantLiberal]

1. I love Barney Frank.

Great video.

[Bolo Boffin]

2. And there was a link at that page to Meredith Whitney yesterday:

To the mega-banks: ""You're either making money or you're not. If you're not making money get out of the business."

http://www.businessinsider.com/meredith-whitney-on-breaking-up-wall-street-banks-2012-7#ixzz21oTQ1Q6T

She says the government doesn't need to step in, though. The Street itself will take the hacksaws to the big banks. We'll see.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

3. That was fun.

[HughBeaumont]

4. Citibank Bartiromo, the afternoon version of her fellow right-wing-ding Joey Kernen . . .

Repubilcans have a friend in CNBC. Watch it some time . . . Republicans are allowed free reign to just yap and yap and yap away.

Paul Krugman? Serially interrupted by the wingnut anchors. Barney Frank, the uneducated conservative's favorite punching bag, for some mysterious reason OTHER than the fact he's gay? Serially interrupted. Any Democrat to the left of Joe Lieberturd? Serially interrupted. It's no wonder we have this 24-hour anti-Obama, anti-Democrat, anti-progress ad on mute.

We just want tickers and finance news. We don't care about your obvious spread of the right wing gospel, Maria. Go to Faux business like so many of your colleagues did.

[sendero]

5. I agree with Maria..

... Dodd Frank is a crazy quilt joke of a piece of legislation. Glass Stegall worked for 50 years and it would work now, and the only reason we don't have it is the banks don't want it and they own Barney and the country.

[unblock]

6. i forget, of gramm, leach, and bliley, which one was barney frank?

dodd frank is actually the most insightful and judicious piece of legislation i've seen in a long, long time. it's amazing it got through this mess of a congess. sure, it doesn't do enough, but it was clearly written by people who understand the modern complexities of banking and want to actually, properly regulate it.

glass-stegall was largely gutted over the years by deregulatory efforts made by many people in washington. greenspan likely deserves the most blame. THAT had become a joke piece of legislation by the time it was fully repealed, as gramm-leach-bliley and subsequent fed deregulation had permitted wide affilition across what used to be a wall between banking and investment activity.

should we bring back glass-stegall in it's former full glory? absolutely.

but there were many causes of the crisis, and barney frank's role in it was minor.


he's not perfect, but he's definitely one of the good guys.

[sendero]

8. Did he push ...

... for a return of Glass Stegall?

I don't think so.

The bottom line is simple. If you had G-S you could throw away Dodd Frank and every other bit of crazy quilt legislation designed to make the banks act right. As long as bankers can gamble with govt backed money they will find a way, period.

[unblock]

10. like i said, glass-stegall had largely been gutted by then.

bring back glass-stegall and you still would have had banks earning significant money from affiliated investment banks and from "non-banking" activities.

glass-stegall needs to be brought back with the strength and implemented regulations in force in the '70s. it had been gradually weakened ever since then.

like i said, barney frank is not perfect, but he's one of the good guys and he's also a realist. he understands the makeup of congress and has a keen insight into what's acheivable and what's not. there are and have been way too many anti-regulation economic anarchists in congress, including but sadly not limited to pretty much all the republicans.

[alcibiades_mystery]

7. CNBC is not even marginally news network

It is a corporate propaganda station, pretty much non-stop. They have to have it on all day in brokerages and other similar outfits (and, coming from Chicago, I mean the word "Outfit" according to its Chicago connotations) not because it provides anything like useful information, but because the workers in such places must be endlessly indoctrinated with the dictums of finance capital lest they look down at what they're doing and resign in disgust.

[moondust]

9. She went round and round with Eliot Spitzer a couple weeks ago.

Presumably chalking up bonus points with her overlords.