Retiring U.S. Rep. Barney Frank vowed yesterday to spend half his remaining time in office defending his landmark financial reform legislation, but some Wall Street watchers see his influence — already reduced to minority status in the House — just waning further as a lame-duck congressman.
“He’s still going to be an eloquent, acerbic force on the scene,” said Cornelius Hurley, director of the Center for Finance, Law and Policy at Boston University. But since the Dodd-Frank Act was signed in July 2010, “his influence over things has eroded considerably, and I think it will continue to do so.”
Former U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, the other name forever tied to the sweeping financial reform bill that’s on track to fully go into effect in late 2012, didn’t run for re-election last year. Frank, the Newton Democrat who announced yesterday he won’t seek re-election next November, said Republicans are reluctant to pursue an outright repeal because of public support for tougher banking rules.
“They will not go after financial reform head-on,” said Frank, who was chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee from 2007 through 2010, when the GOP won the chamber’s majority. “They’re trying to go at it from side angles, and I’m trying hard to prevent that from happening.”
So far, Frank said, Republicans’ overhaul efforts have been limited to holding down funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to regulate derivatives — “the things that got AIG in trouble” — and blocking the appointment of a director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
During his news conference yesterday at Newton City Hall, Frank again defended his role before the 2008 financial fiasco, saying he had “virtually no impact” on housing policy reforms because of Republican opposition. That provoked a confrontation after the event from local GOP leader Tom Mountain, who called Frank’s explanation “the biggest bunch of balderdash I’ve ever heard.”
“He’s still going to be an eloquent, acerbic force on the scene,” said Cornelius Hurley, director of the Center for Finance, Law and Policy at Boston University. But since the Dodd-Frank Act was signed in July 2010, “his influence over things has eroded considerably, and I think it will continue to do so.”
Former U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, the other name forever tied to the sweeping financial reform bill that’s on track to fully go into effect in late 2012, didn’t run for re-election last year. Frank, the Newton Democrat who announced yesterday he won’t seek re-election next November, said Republicans are reluctant to pursue an outright repeal because of public support for tougher banking rules.
So far, Frank said, Republicans’ overhaul efforts have been limited to holding down funding for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to regulate derivatives — “the things that got AIG in trouble” — and blocking the appointment of a director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
During his news conference yesterday at Newton City Hall, Frank again defended his role before the 2008 financial fiasco, saying he had “virtually no impact” on housing policy reforms because of Republican opposition. That provoked a confrontation after the event from local GOP leader Tom Mountain, who called Frank’s explanation “the biggest bunch of balderdash I’ve ever heard.”
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