Want Pentagon Cuts? Make Barney Frank a Senator [View all]

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http://www.opednews.com/articles/Want-Pentagon-Cuts-Make-B-by-John-Nichols-130109-655.html



Former US Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) holds a news conference on issues before the House Financial Services Committee, November 3, 2009.

Want Pentagon Cuts? Make Barney Frank a Senator
By John Nichols
OpEdNews Op Eds 1/9/2013 at 15:59:38

Well, of course, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick should pick former Congressman Barney Frank to fill the US Senate vacancy that will be created when John Kerry is confirmed as the nation's 68th Secretary of State.

~snip~

Just days ago having finished serving 32 years as one of the most outspoken and engaged members of the US House of Representatives, he's actively campaigning for appointment to Kerry's seat.

Frank makes the best case for his selection, arguing that his experience as a former chairman of and ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee makes him uniquely qualified to serve during a period when -- because the "Fiscal Cliff" deal has set up huge fights over everything from raising the debt ceiling to sequester cuts -- the focus of the Congress will be on issues on which he's something of an expert.

~snip~

He is one of the most ardent and consistent advocates for cutting the Department of Defense budget. And it is hard to imagine how Congress gets beyond the current wrangling over debts and deficits without addressing what President Obama's designee for Secretary of Defense -- former Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel -- refers to as a "bloated" Pentagon budget.