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In America, unlike England, unlike Israel, unlike Japan, other democracies, we have elections that have staggered terms.

Barney Frank

If Bob Barr (conservative republican congressman from Georgia) caught on fire and I was holding a bucket of water, it would be great act of discipline to pour it on him. I would do it, but I’d hate myself in the morning.
BARNEY FRANK

Fire Hate Morning
I had always been interested in politics. I had assumed – for two reasons, being Jewish and being gay back in the late ’50s, early ’60s – that I would never be elected or anything, but I would participate as an activist.
BARNEY FRANK

Gay Reason Two
Well, many of us believe that excessive media concentration is a subject that ought to be addressed, and it is, of course, the intention of the majority party not to allow that to be discussed.
BARNEY FRANK

Believe Media Party
Bush senior used to say that we have more will than wallet. So he urged the country to attack poverty with a thousand points of light, none of which could be eaten.
BARNEY FRANK

Country Light Senior
Ridicule is about the most powerful weapon possible.
BARNEY FRANK

Politics Powerful Weapons
The fact that theyre a congressionally chartered group should no more incline people to give to that group than the fact that its National Pickle Month should make them eat more pickles.
BARNEY FRANK

Giving Groups People
Today, many people take for granted the notion that people whose lives are going to be very heavily affected by public policies should have a say in how they are formulated and carried out.
BARNEY FRANK

Affected Grant People Policy Public
But it is also clear that left entirely untouched by public policy, the capitalist system will produce more inequality than is socially healthy or than is necessary for maximum efficiency.
BARNEY FRANK

Efficiency Healthy Produce
There were a lot of Romneys. There’s the Romney who was going to be better on gay rights than Ted Kennedy; now there’s a Romney who checks with Rick Santorum on that issue.
BARNEY FRANK

Better Country Gay Rights
We all have the right to call each other names. Rudeness is a deeply held constitutional value.
BARNEY FRANK

Name Rudeness Values
Going before an audience of people who expect you to be funny is tough. Going before an audience that expect you to be boring, and then being a little funny, is much easier. I prefer easier.
BARNEY FRANK

Littles People Tough
What’s troubling is that the Republicans to defend Mr. DeLay are weakening the ethics process.
BARNEY FRANK

Delay Ethics Republican
But on those occasions when I do strongly disagree with the Democrats and I don’t say anything, I think I forfeit my right to have people pay attention to me when I say the things that I don’t like about what Republicans are saying.
BARNEY FRANK

People Say Anything Thinking
I smoke a cigar or two a day. I did have a brownie once. It made me sleepy.
BARNEY FRANK

Cigar Sleepy Two
The left and the right live in parallel universes. The right listens to talk radio, the left’s on the Internet and they just reinforce one another. They have no sense of reality. I have now one ambition: to retire before it becomes essential to tweet.
BARNEY FRANK

Ambition Essentials Reality
I have been mislabeled as a big advocate of low-income home ownership over rental.
BARNEY FRANK

Home Income Low Ownership
Whenever people are being intellectually dishonest in debate, it is an implicit concession they have lost the fight
BARNEY FRANK

Debate Fighting People
The public is ready now for a safety net for the middle class, something not just for the poor, but for everyone who will need help, from time to time, in order to own a home, educate their kids, keep themselves healthy or have something to retire on.
BARNEY FRANK

Home Kids Order
Capitalism works better from every perspective when the economic decision makers are forced to share power with those who will be affected by those decisions.
BARNEY FRANK

Decision Perspective Power
For many of those who had historically supported welfare programs in the broadest sense, it was perfectly reasonable to enact legislation in which poor people were the objects of efforts to assist them.
BARNEY FRANK

Effort People Programs Welfare
But here too it should be noted that the President’s approach was to first ask the repressive and brutal Taliban to surrender Osama bin Laden to us, and only after that government refused to do that did we invade.
BARNEY FRANK

Firsts Government President
If people knew of ethics violations, they should have sent them to the Ethics Committee. If you think there was serious ethics violation that ought to be looked at, you don’t hold it back for retaliatory purposes.
BARNEY FRANK

People Serious Thinking Violation
Let us not say that we will decide on a political basis at the national level that no State is competent to regulate the practice of medicine in that State if they decide to allow a doctor to prescribe marijuana, because that is what we are talking about.
BARNEY FRANK

Doctors Marijuana Medicine Practice
And unless you think there is a serious chance you’re going to jail, don’t listen to your lawyer.
BARNEY FRANK

Jail Serious Thinking
In the debate between those who believe in essentially unregulated markets and others who hold that reasonable regulation diminishes market excesses without inhibiting their basic function, the subprime situation unfortunately provides ammunition for the latter view.
BARNEY FRANK

Believe Excess Views
And I think there is too much bloviating around from politicians.
BARNEY FRANK

Much Politician Thinking Too
I hope we will not so characterize religious people as being so narrow and so biased towards people not of their own religion that they cannot even work with them in this common cause to which you say they are committed.
BARNEY FRANK

People Prejudice Religious

In America, unlike England, unlike Israel, unlike Japan, other democracies, we have elections that have staggered terms.

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In America, unlike England, unlike Israel, unlike Japan, other democracies, we have elections that have staggered terms.

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Popular Authors

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