Category: Matthew Huisman
President’s Budget Proposal Would Be Terrible for New Bedford, Rep. Frank Says
Budget
New Bedford Standard Times
Matthew Huisman
Boston University Washington News Service
2/4/08
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said that President Bush’s proposed $3.1 trillion budget presented Monday would have “a terrible effect on New Bedford.”
“There is a disaster in the president’s proposal to cut community development park grants by 18 percent,” Rep. Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said in a telephone interview.
President Bush presented his 2009 budget proposal, which calls for increased spending in national security at the expense of domestic programs like Medicare and Medicaid, No Child Left Behind and the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. The budget predicts an increase of the deficit to nearly $410 billion by the end of this year; however Bush says his proposal will balance the budget by 2012.
Rep. Frank said that President Bush’s budget would cut funding for community development park grants by 18 percent, decrease funding for public housing and eliminate the Brownfield redevelopment grant.
“Industry came, made a mess, and now there is nobody here to clean it up,” Rep. Frank said with regards to the Brownfield redevelopment program.
Also voicing their disapproval of President Bush’s proposed budget were Democratic Sens. Edward Kennedy and John Kerry.
“The President’s eighth and final budget digs an even deeper hole for American families and creates an even bigger mess for the next administration to fix,” Sen. Kerry said in a statement. “Once again, the president chose tax cuts for millionaires over relief for middle class homeowners struggling to make ends meet.”
“The president fumbled yet another opportunity to put forward a budget that demonstrates real understanding of the challenges our country is facing today and that provides real relief for hardworking Americans,” Sen. Kennedy said in a statement. “Just as the president’s shortsighted policies have allowed our economy to spiral into recession, his budget leaves working families to weather the storm alone.”
Rep. Frank said he is confident that Congress will reject the majority of Bush’s proposed budget and will fight for “very important” legislation for New Bedford.
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House Stimulus Package Will Help Economy, Frank Says
Frank
New Bedford Standard Times
Matthew Huisman
Boston University Washington News Service
1/29/08
WASHINGTON – Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said Tuesday that the House-passed $146 billion economic stimulus package, which would give tax rebates to most Americans, will help the declining economy.
“The stimulus package is not aimed at getting people to spend more than they ordinarily would,” Frank, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, said in an interview. “It’s to keep them from spending less than they ordinarily would, to keep them from cutting back.”
The House passed the bill Tuesday by an overwhelming vote of 385-35. The Senate will now produce its own version, which must then be reconciled with the House version.
One of the parts of the bill that Frank said would benefit Massachusetts residents specifically would almost double the Federal Housing Administration’s maximum loan of $362,790.
“This bill raises the dollar amount that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the FHA can pay.” Frank said the problem is that the FHA maximum loan is based upon a national standard.
“Well, in Nebraska [$362,790] buys a lot of house; in Dartmouth, not so much,” Frank said.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., said in a statement that the bill is “a critical first step” in helping the economy. But, he added, “it doesn’t go far enough to address the immense challenges facing our economy, and the real suffering that working families are experiencing. We need a tax rebate that gives low income families and the elderly their fair share.”
Kennedy said he looks forward to reworking the bill in the Senate to improve the bill and “provide real solutions to the real problems facing American families.”
President Bush, during the State of the Union speech Monday night, called upon Democrats and Republicans to act swiftly to pass the stimulus package.
“It’s depressing having him tell us that we’ll be staying in Iraq indefinitely,” Frank said. “He wants us to keep tax cuts for the wealthy, stay in Iraq and somehow balance the budget. It just doesn’t make sense.”
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President Says Hello to Frank’s Boyfriend
Boyfriend
New Bedford Standard Times
Matthew Huisman
Boston University Washington News Service
Jan. 29, 2008
WASHINGTON – Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., was making a last-minute phone call to his boyfriend in the Speaker’s Lobby outside the House chamber before the State of the Union address Monday night when somebody grabbed his hand and said, “Tell him I said hello.” Frank looked up to see President Bush.
“I said to my boyfriend, ‘Believe it or not, the president just told me to say hello to you,’” Frank said.
After the speech, Frank ran into the President in Statuary Hall, where the news media had gathered, and told Bush that he had been talking to his boyfriend.
According to Frank, Bush responded, “Oh, o OK. I hope he appreciates how open- minded I am.” And then the president thanked him for helping on the economic stimulus plan, Frank said.
“It’s in the irony of telling me to say hello, not realizing it was my boyfriend,” Frank said. “I had to tell him that.”
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Sen. Kennedy Throws Support Behind Obama
Obama
New Bedford Standard Times
Matthew Huisman
Boston University Washington News Service
1/28/08
WASHINGTON – Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., threw his support behind Democratic residential candidate Barack Obama during a rally at American University in Washington on Monday.
“I feel change in the air,” Kennedy told a crowd of about 4,600 enthusiastic students and supporters.
“Every time I’ve been asked over the past year, who I would support in the Democratic primary, my answer has always been the same,” Kennedy said. “I’ll support the candidate who inspires me, who inspires all of us, who can lift our vision and summon our hopes and renew our belief that our country’s best days are still to come. I’ve found that candidate and I think you have too.”
As Kennedy spoke, Obama sat looking pensively at the thousands of supporters packed in Bender Arena.
Kennedy was joined by his niece, Caroline Kennedy, and his son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.).
”I am proud to stand with him here today and offer my help, offer my voice, offer my energy, my commitment to make Barack Obama the next president of the United States,” the elder Kennedy said.
Following the senator’s 20-minute speech, Obama approached the microphone and thanked American University, the Kennedys and all the presidential candidates.
“Ted Kennedy stands apart from the prevailing wisdom in Washington that has reduced politics to a game of tactics and transactions in which no principle is beyond sacrifice, and his public life is a testimony to what can be achieved where he focused on lifting the country up rather than tearing political opponents down,” Obama said.
Former Indiana Rep. Tim Roemer, who was also in attendance but did not speak at the rally, voiced his support for Barack Obama to members of the press after the rally. Roemer is the president of the Center for National Policy and also served on the 9/11 commission.
“He brings in people that are young and old and across the spectrum,” Roemer said. “I come from a red state. He can get independent voters and crossover voters, not just to win elections, but to win coalitions to govern. I think Sen. Clinton could be a very good president, I think Sen. Obama could be a great president.”
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