Frank Won't Promise To Use Bank Money To Reduce Deficit

January 14, 2010

Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): "The federal government has expenditures."

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/ ... ficit.html

January 15th, 2010Money Honey Spanks Frank

Is there any elected official in the country who's more of an arrogant, condescending jerk to people - including his own constituents - than Barney Frank?

Watch him in this interview with CNBC anchor Erin Burnett.

The clip begins with Frank stating explicitly that the money the government will receive from Obama's proposed tax on banks will go toward reducing the deficit. "This money will be used to reduce the deficit," Frank repeats for emphasis.

But when Burnett asks Frank if that's a "promise," he immediately shifts gears and begins lecturing Burnett about how the federal government works and how it needs to spend money on roads and bridges and Afghanistan and people with disabilities.

Eventually, Burnett gets a chance and tries again:

Burnett: So, but when are we going to start cutting spending? Cause all this money was supposed to go to the deficit, and now it might go to bridges and Afghanistan and...but we, we're borrowing all this money.

Frank: Excuse me, are you - Excuse me, you're surprised we're going to have to pay for the war in Afghanistan?

Burnett: No, I'm just saying this money I thought was supposed to go to deficit reduction, you said.

Frank: No, I'm sorry Erin, I don't mean to be rude but I don't think you understand the way the government works. You don't say this money goes for that, this money goes for this. We have expenditures. And then we have revenues. The deficit is the extent to which expenditures exceed the revenues.

Burnett: I understand that -

Frank: No, no, but you don't if you say, 'well it's not supposed to Afghanistan, it's supposed to go the deficit....

Pretty amazing, no?

Frank says the money will go to deficit reduction, then turns around just a few seconds later and arrogantly berates Burnett by arguing that people who say money can be allocated specifically for deficit reduction don't understand how government works.

If you ever wanted a textbook example of why the public has such a low opinion of the some of the people inhabiting Congress, Frank has just provided it.

N.B. Incidentally, Frank also ignores the fact that Congress wrote a specific provision into the TARP legislation saying the any money recouped would be devoted to deficit reduction - though in the end that did not stop the Obama administration from spending it anyway.