Barney Frank: An Example For Obama? | The New Republic

Barney Frank: An Example For Obama?

The New York Times takes a look today at the surprising record of success Barney Frank has amassed in working with the Bush administration and Republicans in Congress. The piece is full of typical Barneyisms ("[Frank] said that asking the White House to support more government intervention was 'like asking me to judge the Miss America contest--if your heart's not in it, you don't do a very good job.' ") The most interesting graf, though, might be this:

"Barney has been very fair," said Representative Dana Rohrabacher of California and one of the most conservative members of the House. "I think that I have been treated more fairly, and a number of my Republican colleagues have been treated more fairly, since the Democrats have become the majority than I was treated by my own leadership."

Now, there's clearly a limit to how far things like civility and procedural fairness can go in papering over ideological conflicts (though the fact that Barney Frank and Dana Rohrabacher can come together on anything is noteworthy). Frank probably benefits from chairing a committee that deals with issues on which technocratic negotiation can be somewhat productive--it's hard to imagine he'd be able to be as bipartisan if he chaired, say, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

I think what Frank's record demonstrates is that there are at least some respects in which Barack Obama's pledges to seek understanding and "disagree without being disagreeable" aren't entirely, as some contend, meaningless platitudes. Sometimes compromise is possible and sometimes it isn't, but DeLay-style politics ensures that pretty much every question winds up falling into the latter category, even if bipartisanship might prove fruitful. When you start talking about things like health-care or entitlement reform, absent one party holding 60-plus Senate seats, you need some minimal level of trust and dialogue if anything's going to get done.

--Josh Patashnik 

Logo

Independent journalism matters

×

Ads help fund our journalism. Please disable your ad blocker so that we can continue striving to be the most influential magazine in Washington, D.C., with our breaking news coverage, in-depth political features, and much more.

Continue without disabling

Choose your Ad Blocker

  • Adblock Plus
  • Adblock
  • Adguard
  • Ad Remover
  • Brave
  • Ghostery
  • uBlock Origin
  • uBlock
  • UltraBlock
  • Other
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock Plus icon
  2. Click the large blue toggle for this website
  3. Click refresh
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock icon
  2. Under "Pause on this site" click "Always"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Adguard icon
  2. Click on the large green toggle for this website
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ad Remover icon
  2. Click "Disable on This Website"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the orange lion icon
  2. Click the toggle on the top right, shifting from "Up" to "Down"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ghostery icon
  2. Click the "Anti-Tracking" shield so it says "Off"
  3. Click the "Ad-Blocking" stop sign so it says "Off"
  4. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock Origin icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the UltraBlock icon
  2. Check the "Disable UltraBlock" checkbox
  1. Please disable your Ad Blocker
  2. Disable any DNS blocking tools such as AdGuardDNS or NextDNS

If the prompt is still appearing, please disable any tools or services you are using that block internet ads (e.g. DNS Servers).