Retiring Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., says he expects to do public-policy advocacy when he says good-bye to Capitol Hill.
“I will say the same things about public policy going forward that I said in the past,” he said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe on Monday. “But there will be less cynicism about it,” he added, referring to increasing public pessimism toward elected officials.
Frank, whose term ends next year, announced last week that he would not seek reelection. He has been working full-time in politics since October 1967 and has served 16 terms in Congress.
The retiring congressman also described his good relationship with Wall Street, and why President Obama’s wasn’t as strong.
“I think the basic problem is the president has hurt their feelings,” Frank said. People “want to be told is that what they do is not only profitable but socially valuable. That they’re good people. And I’ve tried not to demonize people. That’s easy to do. Very few of them are bad people.”
Frank said he has views similar to the White House on financial regulation, although Obama faces pressure from parts of the Democratic base for not being harder on Wall Street. “If you look at the public policies the president has advocated, there’s no good reason for this business of hostility,” Frank said. “I think it’s a couple of comments that hurt feelings.”
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