join me now, congressman barney frank, democrat from massachusetts, and a longtime throwing on the side of the gop. he's one of the author of the dodd/frank bill. mr. chairman, thank you for joining me this evening. thank you,al. thank yohese extreme views to the country? >> they can be very damaging. let me give you an example. unemployment is obviously one of the things people are most concerned or republicans claim to be concerned about it. we have a higher unemployment rate now in mechanic rachelle terms, because the right wing has forced cities and states to lay people off. people that clean up the snow, firefighters, but then they turn around and say we cannot reduce the biggest single item, the military budget, which includes subs dieding people we shouldn't be subsidizing, that would cost jobs, they say. i'll tell you what cost jobs, and these numbers i just verified. employment in the private sector over the past several years is up 2.8%, but it's been reduced to 1.9% overall because of the loss of public sector jobs. in other words, if the cities and states had just been allow

barney frank talk about michele bachmann. he also called out newt gingrich and said he held him responsible for the demonization of opponents that has contributed to the atmosphere we live in today. i do think he came into the house. he slashed all of the caucasus and civility. we are seeing this. this is a man who a few days ago talked about education reform in the context of firing the janitors in schools and putting the kids to work. a lot of the media called that unconventional. [laughter] let's repeal child labor laws that we fought hard for in this country. bring in dickens to chronicle it. i do think there is the cruelty amidst the reality show debates we have been subjected to. who is running this, entertainment or news? there is a cruelty when people cheer that someone dies without health care or bbo a soldier that dies in iraq. >> i am joking about herman cain. he is a guy who cannot hide the truth well. that makes me more comfortable with the idea that i know who he is about so i can make a decision. >> are you tal

we spoke to barney frank and he said that newt gingrich's record in the congress was poisonous and he is a poisonous individual. does that meanwhile he is generally contained his bile as it were for the press, do you think he is now going to start leaking that out on his other contenders? >> what we have learn and all the candidates learned is the national pot light and focus is you can be bright and it's unforgivable. as soon as you rise in the polls, people want to know what your background is. the american people want to know you are who you say you çare. that's exactly what newt gingrich will experience over the next couple of weeks. people will be peeling the onion and looking to who he is what and what he stands for and the issues he will fight for. he hasn't had to deal with that. >> is it going to be newt or is it going to be mitt? >> i still think the odds favor mitt romney only because he had the staying power in terms of fund-raising and i think once people take a closer look at newt gingrich, a lot of the same issues that happened with previous front-runners will happen.

. >> barney frank has taken a hike. >> that is worth talking about. you see in this congress michele bachmann and michele bachmann one of these -- wannabe's. there are fights about redistricting. >> use of the one strength the president obama, his rhetorical skill, is not sufficient. >> it has not been used at the scale necessary in this time of crisis. america is in a crossroads. this is a moment comparable to coming out of the great depression. this was a moment coming out of the financial crisis when tectonic shifts are under way in this country. hope is not a policy. policy is a wonky word. hope needs a story, a narrative. here is what is going on in this country. president obama now is speaking more forcefully about what he wants to do it and against smoking out those who are obstructing. this is really wonky. anyway, i think one of the most exciting things are the movements of our times. i closed this book out before occupy. i wrote about wisconsin. our correspondent was there for 57 days. that was about occupying the state house. occupy has bec

that's a good sign -- >> chairman barney franks, as always. >> thank you, al. >>> ahead, republicans are playing games to protect the 1%, but what will the president make them fold on? >>> plus gingrich rising. amazing new polls show him flying high. we'll show you willard's plan to take him down. >>> block the vote, voter suppression laws in florida. we'll investigate those tonight. you're watching "politics nation" on msnbc. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] yes, it is. ♪ when your chain of supply goes from here to shanghai, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ chips from here, boards from there track it all through the air, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ clearing customs like that hurry up no time flat that's logistics. ♪ ♪ all new technology ups brings to me, that's logistics. ♪ â™

remember, barney frank and ron paul did a bipartisan commission on military spending in 2010. they found this -- that one trillion dollars in pentagon waste could be saved over a 10- year time. we're now talking about 100 billion that could be cut every year. that is real money. this summer the congressional progressive caucus did an anti- austerity budget, and they came up with 2.3 trillion savings in military spending. that would be an incredible -- coupled with taxing the wealthy and corporations, that would be a real important step forward for our people. we hope you will. representative nancy pelosi does talk about saving entitlement programs, but it is very contradictory, because she has voted for every single war spending measure. it would be great if you could speak to her when you have time. thank you very much. supervisor avalos: thank you. next speaker, please. >> my name is lori readerman. every year the board of supervisors struggles with the budget. we argue over the relative to imports of health care, education, senior programs, parks and recreation, transportat

. >> congressman barney frank got into a hot debate over george will over legalizing pot. >> if someone wants to smoke marijuana who is an adult, why do you want to make him go to jail? >> on the internet gambling, i'm a supporter on the barney frank bill. >> yes. >> with regard to marijuana, i need to know more about whether it's a gateway drug to other drugs, i need to know if you're going to regulate it. >> it's been around for a long time. anything is a gateway to anything. >> back now to washington where john boehner is speaking about the payroll tax cut house vote scheduled to take place at 6:30 eastern. >> inste regard to the house bi senate leaders passed a two-month extension, punting the problem into next year. we oppose the senate bill because doing a two-month extension instead of a full year extension causes uncertainty for job creators. i used to run a small business. i met a payroll, i hired workers. a two-month extension creates uncertainty and will cause problems for people who are trying to create jobs in the private sector. the idea that a tax policy can be done two m

congressman barney frank has done a wonderful job representing massachusetts down there in washington. if you are thinking about getting something for him, he could always use another bra. [applause] nice knockers. >> it's our holiday show.[laugh] it's the time of year i don't care who you are or where you are going everyone gets caught up in the festive mood. even ron paul has the christmas spirit. look at this guy. i thought this was darn nice. ♪[laughter] you know, here is the big holiday movie. you have your big christmas celebration you go city a movie. go see the new matt damon movie "we got a zoo". i was talking to a guy who has no idea who the govenor of his home state is. but that is another story. i don't know why? [laughter] is there some kind of shake down do i have to know everything? what am i google all of a sudden? what am i mr.wikipedia. i don't know who it is. i got nothing. leave me alone. [applause] let me see your license and registration. the thing to do is go see "we bought a zoo" we have a clip. i think it's going to be a big holiday block buster. a little ta

. >> it got worse, channelling barney frank and how the sponsored enterprises were valuable at promoting home ownership was a good idea. as if the financial crisis never happened. and as far as the first explanation that he was acting as a historian, i'm sure there are a the lot of historians around the country where to learn, there's now 30 grand a month retainer watching for them in washington d.c. and the point is he's right at the moment. he was teaching freddie mac how to avoid reform just as we were heading to the mortgage-- >> he says he urged them to reform. part of his message. >> he said that and then it came out. their old publictations, 2007. >> freddie mac's-- >> where he's basically lauding the general model of this kind of government funded-- >> on that point i want to get the quote from that period just to buttress james' point here, i would be cautious about fundamentally changing their role or the model itself, end quote. he was referring to freddie mac and fannie mae. >> paul, we could sit here for a couple of hours trying it nail down exactly what his position was on

first person i run into is barney frank. barney frank says, that suit gives it away. [laughter] give it away? don't wear that suit anymore. i'm like, geez. i gave the bill. i was so proud. david is sitting there the way david sits there. and david says to me, you did what you came to do. you got the job done. but it could have been more diplomatic. so this is really my day. i'm getting -- i'm getting fashion advice from barney frank and diplomacy advice from dave obey. [laughter] can you imagine? can you imagine? so i tell you one other barney frank story. again -- if you want to know what helps me by barney -- i could do all day about barney. the first words i uttered on the word were about hiv-aids and so i was in my office and one of these -- shall we say southern california, very conservative members was on the floor. this is way before most of your time. was on the floor just ranting and raving against people with h.i.v. and aids. these are people who are sick. ranting and raving. so i called barney. i said, barney -- do you believe what he's saying? i can't beli

barney frank calls it quits and i can just hear you crying. but i want to move ahead. he says before he leaves, he wants to remove the death panels from the health care law. that's an incredible exit strategy, isn't it? >> i'll say. but this is probably one of the last cynical moves of his that i'm sort of not inclined to criticize. i think the more, the merrier when it comes to repealing this unaccountable, independent advisory board that would have really untold powers and the goldwater institute in arizona has been at the forefront of challenging the legality and the constitutionality of this board. barney frank is the first and most prominent democrat to sign on to the effort to repeal it for him. >> brian: obama it is care is going to that board. and they're going to decide major decisions about you or i on health care. if that board dissipe, that is a body blow to obamacare, from barney frank! >> yeah, yeah. it certainly would be. and, again, i'm just going o say, better late than never. and i hope more democrats who are continuing to stay in office will follow h

barney frank not a fan of the tea party. in a recent interview he mocked tea party lawmakers comparing them with characters to what book >> the republic leadership now is the tea party people and so the problem is, you don't even know if there is going to be an ability to negotiate. it's hard to negotiate with a negotiating committee that consists of john boehner, eric cantor, the mad hatter or the white rabbit. >> bill: what's the problem? i can negotiate with them. it's easier than negotiating with you, barn. all right. doocy up by one. one to go. "sports illustrated" swimsuit edition came out this week. some of the models turned up on letterman. >> the category, good things about appearing in the "sports illustrated" swimsuit edition. >> it helps my chances for the swimsuit prize on modeling. on the tax form under occupation i can write hot. >> that's what i would do. best selling swimsuit issue of all time was in 1989 si. which featured whom on the cover? >> bill: cards up, please. the answer is cathy ireland our pal who

frank was in public office with direct power over freddie mac. he exploited that power just as chris dodd was in public office when got special bargains from countrywide a firm which went broke. they were using power. i was a private citizen engaged in a business business like any other business. if you read the whole thing that they posted i said they need more regulations and i want to go back to my point about helping people buy houses. i worked for years with habitat for hugh you manty. i think it is a good conservative principle to find ways to help families right at the margin learn how to budget, learn how to take care of a house, learn how to buy a house. i'm not going to step back from the idea that in fact we should have as a goal helping as many americans as possible be capable of buying homes and when you look for example electric membership co--ons and credit unions, this are a lot of government sponsored enterprises that are awfully important and do an awful good job congressman paul, you are all over iowa tv with a negative ad abou

frank retiring. >>> so are you overloaded with gift cards after the holidays? you can trade the ones you don't want in for cash. shawn yancy has your fox 5 top five. >> up first tonight, maureen, so what do your twitter tweets say about you? no. 5, a recent twitter study found happy tweets are on the decline. scientists at the university of vermont analyzed billions of tweets and found there were drops in happiness especially during the 2008 financial bailout followed by the flu pandemic and death of michael jackson. the happiest tweets come on saturdays. no. 4, mears a question. what would you do with 200 -- here's a question, what would you do with $206 million? because no one won the last mega millions jackpot it is now up. next tuesday's drawing, well, it's going to be a big one. people are lining up to buy more tickets. no. 3, is the solution to those unwanted holiday gift cards. instead of letting them go to waste sell them for cash, exchange them for gift cards you really want. check out giftcardgranny.com. the website lets you do all of the above. no. 2

ron paul and barney frank. let me play to you some of the comments that they made in "the situation room." >> the two of us have talked about this over the years, but actually, barney motivated to come to me and ask me about this, setting up a commission to do this study, set out a program, it's not going to happen tomorrow. tas ten-year program. he asked me if i'd be interested in doing more work. i agreed. i think it's a great idea because that's what i've been arguing for a long time and i'm always looking for an opportunity to bring progressive democrats with some conservative libertarian types because there are places where we can agree and i think this is a very important place to start. >> there was a degree of interventi interventionism, the note that we must be the superpower. we are committed to defending america's legitimate strategic interests, but we have got a military establishment, it's not their fault. it's the fault of political leadership, subjected into a worldwide situation far beyond our l

barney frank was in public office, with direct power over freddie mac. he exploited that power, just as chris dodd was in public office when he got special bargains from countrywide, a firm which went broke. they were using power. i was a private citiz engaged in a business like any other business. now, if you read the whole thing that they posted i said they need more regulations, and i want to go back to my point about helping people buy houses. it work for years with habitat for humanity. it is a good conservative principle to find ways to help families right at the margin learn how to budget. learn how to take care of a house. learn how to buy a house. i am not going to step back from an idea that we should have as a goal helping as many americans as possible, be capable of buying homes. when you look for example at the electric membership coopts and credit unions, there are a lot of government sponsored enterprises that are awfully important and do an awfully good job. >> chris: congressman paul, you are, having been in this town for 48 hours now, y

barney frank was in public office, with direct power over freddie mac. he exploited that power, just as chris dodd was in public office when he got special bargains from countrywide, a firm which went broke. they were using power. i was a private citizen engaged in a business like any other business. now, if you read the whole thing that they posted i said they need more regulations, and i want to go back to my point about helping people buy houses. it work for years with habitat for humanity. it is a good conservative principle to find ways to help families right at the margin learn how to budget. learn how to take care of a house. learn how to buy a house. i am not going to step back from an idea that we should have as a goal helping as many americans as possible, be capable of buying homes. when you look for example at the electric membership coopts and credit unions, there are a lot of government sponsored enterprises that are awfully important and do an awfully good job. >> chris: congressman paul, you are, having been in this town for 48 hours now,

and on a couple occasions i've seen barney frank doing that. he would be needlessly rude to someone who was struggling. and if they've been rude to somebody like me who's been around but rude to vulnerable in that way and i thought that was unattractive and i tried to expressed that and many people have seen this similar thing but there's been a whole series of commentaries and i think david milbank and others have written about this capacity for rudeness. i guess i just have trouble -- you can be -- you can say i care for the man and the downtrodden in the abstract but if you're not willing to live that in your day-to-day life, i have trouble thinking how real that is. and so i criticize frank for being that way. it's a serious flaw to me. >> host: has he ever responded to that? >> guest: no. so many people have made this point and i just made this comment on the air on friday on the newshour. and i haven't heard from him. maybe he'll scream at me, but that's fine. but it's a point that many people have made about him. maybe he's someone who u

going away present from barney frank. perhaps you could give him a framed copy of edmund burke's rating on manners. are you familiar with that one? manners are more important than law. laws touches here and there but manners -- corp. for pure fire. by constant steady uniform, sensible operation like the air we breathe. thank you very much and keep writing those great columns. >> guest: of beautiful quote by burke who was capable of a lot of great writing. it is a real lesson for life that burke's wisdom that he got because you can't sit here and say i will be courageous or brave or honest. what you can do is do the small things right. you can hold the door for people, set the table properly. by doing the small things right you slowly build up habits of virtue and that is what burke would have said. i hadn't really thought it through but maybe that -- was rudeness is so offensive. not just little things that can be tossed away. if you are personally rude there are problems with big things. if you are personally well manner

barney frank not a fan of the tea party. he mocked tea party lawmakers comparing them to characters from what book? twilight, one flew over the cuckoo's nest, harry potter, alice in wonderland. the answer is. >> the republican leadership is the tea party people. you don't even know if there will be an ability to negotiate. it is hard to negotiate with a negotiating committee that consists of john boehner, eric cantor the mad hatter and the white rabbit. >> i can negotiate thwith that. >> dues see up by one. one to go. sports illustrated swimsuit edition came out this week. some of the models turned up on letterman. >> the good things about appearing in the sports illustrated swimsuit edition. >> it helps the mobile prize in modeling. >> under the tax form i can write hot. >> that's what i do. >> best selling swimsuit issue of all time was in 1989. which featured whom on the cover kathy ireland, ella mcpherson, kournikova? rachel hunter. >> the answer is kathy ireland. makes furniture or something. >> got that right. it is a

franks your henry cisneros again this is a bipartisan report of people have made millions of dollars like henry cisneros and so it's nearly three years later the s.e.c. one after the former executives and one and it took them three years but to now all of the focus is going to be on the executives and once again we're missing the bigger story and that is that government involvement they think these folks the congressmen insertion they pushed and prodded fannie and freddie to increase homeownership and to basically go out and hit these under-served quote unquote under-served markets which means taking on riskier loans which ultimately backfired there's probably a reason why we're in the mess we're in today well and i want to talk about that because in the ninety's that was the first time to my understanding that these g.s. these had goals and pressure for affordable housing to expand loans for low to middle income borrowers under george h.w. bush admin it administration as well as the clinton administration so what role did that have in the g.s. he's taking on this arrest and the sub

. >> barney frank. at one point you said he should go jail for supporting freddie mac. >> he was engaged in activities to get somebody a job at a institution he was supervising. >> freddie mac. >> remember, chris dod was getting special deals and barney frank, was their official business. everything i did that is being reported was as a private citizen in business after i left government. >> did you make 1.6 to $1.8 million? >> i didn't personally. >> it is said pubically you encouraged him to take a different position on a dreaddpi mac related issue. >> i don't remember ever doing that. >> you're saying senator? >> yes. >> i honestly don't remember doing that>> i will get you the information. >> yeah. >> the other $100 million -- have you in your companies made $100 million since leaving congre congress? >> over 12 years. we have had four companies and produced seven movies. i have 24 books, 13 of them "new york times" best sellers. i gave 50 to 80 speeches a year. >> $50,000 a speech? >> it depends on

at 1:00, "this week" with barney frank and rick santorum. also on the program, angelina jolie on her work as a goodwill ambassador. at 2:00, fox news sunday. michele bachmann and kent conrad and tom coburn. both are members of the gang of six. at 3:00, it is "state of the union" with ron paul and michele bachmann. and john mccain. at 4:00, "face the nation" from cbs. it all begins at noon. listen to them all on c-span radio on and 90.1 fm in the washington, d.c., area. >> he did not have a lot of romantic ideas about spying. he saw it for what it was. dirty business. >> in "the man nobody knew," carl colby examines the life of this father, william colby. >> my father changed after he was drawn out of the agency. he is a soldier. he took on the toughest, dirtiest assignments given to him by the presidents. when it came time for the president to ask him to lie and to mislead congress, he could not do it. >> tonight, at 8:00. >> when i look at why a country does well or wisely does not, i think it is a values thing. it is not natural resources.

. >> it got worse, channelling barney frank and how the sponsored enterprises were valuable at promoting home ownership was a good idea. as if the financial crisis never happened. and as far as the first explanation that he was acting as a historian, i'm sure there are a the lot of historians around the country where to learn, there's now 30 grand a month retainer watching for them in washington d.c. and the point is he's right at the moment. he was teaching freddie mac how to avoid reform just as we were heading to the mortgage-- >> he says he urged them to reform. part of his message. >> he said that and then it came out. their old publictations, 2007. >> freddie mac's-- >> where he's basically lauding the general model of this kind of government funded-- >> on that point i want to get the quote from that period just to buttress james' point here, i would be cautious about fundamentally changing their role or the model itself, end quote. he was referring to freddie mac and fannie mae. >> paul, we could sit here for a couple of hours trying it nail down exactly what his position was on

. >> congressman barney frank, the democrat from massachusetts announced he will not seek a 17th term, acknowledged he had neglected the issue when he chaired the financial services committee. bret? >> bret: james, thank you. the big three auto makers had a better november this year than last. chrysler says its sales were up 45% over november 2010. ford gained 13%. general motors was 7% ahead. president obama pledged u.s. support to help additional 2 million people around the world get access to hiv treatment. by the end of 2013. the president was joined via satellite by his predecessor at a world aids day event in washington. >> we are a blessed nation in the united states of america. i believe we are required to support effective programs that save lives. >> this fight is not over. not for the 1.2 million americans living with hiv right now. not for the americans who are infected every day. >> bret: president obama praised mr. bush's leadership on aids saying it was one of his greatest legacies. evangelist billy graham has been diagnosed with pneumonia. but is responding to well to

barney frank does on the weekends. >> kimberly: isn't he gone? >> eric: downstairs business going on. >> greg: i thought it was get something -- >> bob: he is retiring. give him a break. >> greg: i thought it was getting something free. isn't that what franking is? >> bob: frank this. go ahead. came bob! >> eric: franking is part of a bigger problem that is called members representational allowances, the congress and senate get anything between somewhere around $1 million up to $2 million of spending money. part of it is postage. and other things. they can rent cars or buy lunches. they can write off a bottle of water. >> dana: i don't like the word. it's like having -- >> eric: if you had $2 million to spend in addition? >> dana: i don't know how much it is. but if you work at a place one thing you have to do is operate a business, you need to have operating funds to do that. you can't expect the members of congress to pay it out of their own pocket. >> kimberly: why can't they mail christmas cards? >> bob: they do that and we pay for it too. th