# Barney Frank not running again **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 29, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399 "2011-11-29T01:27:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/41 "2011-12-02T10:50:56Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > Translation: Being in the minority sucks, and there is almost no chance the Democrats will regain the House next election. Might as well bail. I dunno, I’ll wait to see with the fivethirtyeight guys say as the election gets closer. It’s eleven months away, after all. Eleven months… man, you Americans are screwed up. We could call a general election _today_ and it would be over well before the end of January. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/42 "2011-12-02T16:07:55Z")
To paraphrase Treebeard: Yes, but you are very small. No need to be hasty! -XT ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/43 "2011-12-03T17:20:46Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Are you referring to the toward-the-top redistribution we’ve had ever since Reagan? There are quite a few poor people who staunchly support the GOP, and therefore the answer is yes. > > ". I think you and I have dif views on the meaning of “redistribution”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/44 "2011-12-03T22:22:16Z")
Ah, right, the first time the money is stolen, it’s just “distribution”. It only becomes _re_distribution when someone tries to take it back. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/45 "2011-12-04T00:21:22Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > I think you and I have dif views on the meaning of “redistribution”. Yes, I recognize it when it occurs _either way_, and you apparently don’t. So why is upward redistribution, or whatever term you prefer to use instead for increasing concentration of wealth, _not_ a bad thing while reversing or even slowing it _is_? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/46 "2011-12-04T02:37:41Z")
Because it is our god given right to earn as much money as possible in our lives. The wealthy work hard for their cash and if they are getting richer and richer, they deserve it! When the government comes in and takes it away from the poor old rich people, and gives it to the poor, THAT’S redistribution. LOL. ---
**Author:** ![Moe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moe/32/2972_2.png) [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2011, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/47 "2011-12-04T10:52:47Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > [Dana Milbank](http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/barney-the-bully-congressman-franks-other-legacy/2011/11/29/gIQAEX979N_story.html) points out what many people in Washington, friends and foes of Frank, already knew - that he was extremely rude and abrasive even by Washington standards, and that this kept him from achieving more in his years on the Hill. From the article: > [@](#): > > “The **amiable** Guthrie tried again.” The same Savannah Guthrie who asked Obama during a press conference after the mid-term election something like “What do you say to the people who are saying ‘you just don’t get it?’”. No, no attempt at “gotcha questions” from this “amiable” (and quite sexy) pillar of fine journalism. > [@Dana Milbank](#): > > He asked critics: “On what planet do you spend most of your time?” If by “critics” you mean a crazy woman who came to a Town Hall discussion on health care reform with the intention of disrupting it by shouting out that Frank is supporting a “nazi plan”. I’m not denying that Frank was likely rude and abrasive among his colleages, but this article seems hardly bias-free. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/48 "2011-12-05T13:51:24Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Yes, I recognize it when it occurs _either way_, and you apparently don’t. > > So why is upward redistribution, or whatever term you prefer to use instead for increasing concentration of wealth, _not_ a bad thing while reversing or even slowing it _is_? :dubious: Because I think of it as an overt act to take from some and give to others. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/49 "2011-12-05T14:59:57Z")
> [@what the .... ?!?!](#): > > because i think bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/50 "2011-12-05T16:05:28Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Because I think of it as an overt act to take from some and give to others. **All** taxes do that regardless of intent. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/51 "2011-12-05T16:07:23Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > I think you and I have dif views on the meaning of “redistribution”. [This](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redistribution_(economics)) is what **economists** mean by it, let’s stick with **that.** ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/52 "2011-12-05T16:08:33Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > Don’t you think that poor people are more inclined to support wealth distribution? You would think, but sometimes, in their voting behavior (when they vote at all), cultural concerns trump economic. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/53 "2011-12-05T17:39:43Z")
Barney Frank is 71 years old. It’s not unreasonable to expect him to retire even without the redistricting issue. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/54 "2011-12-05T20:53:17Z")
> [@](#): > > All taxes do that regardless of intent. Heck, all economic activity, period, does that. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/55 "2011-12-06T15:09:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Heck, all economic activity, period, does that. No, I don’t think it does. The driver for capitalism is an exchange of value, where both parties come out perceiving that they are better off than before they made the deal. I have X and want Y; you have Y and want X. We exchange, and both have something they want more than what they had before. It’s the difference between an exchange and a transfer. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![AlienVessels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@AlienVessels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienVessels)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/56 "2011-12-06T16:04:01Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > No, I don’t think it does. The driver for capitalism is an exchange of value, where both parties come out perceiving that they are better off than before they made the deal. I have X and want Y; you have Y and want X. We exchange, and both have something they want more than what they had before. It’s the difference between an exchange and a transfer. That perception thing is key. In this “exchange of value”, which party has more resources to manipulate perception? How transparent is the value of X? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/57 "2011-12-06T23:48:33Z")
In that case, then, taxes aren’t redistribution either, since I consider what I get in exchange for my taxes to be worth more than the money I spend on them. If I didn’t, I’d go off and move to some desert island somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/58 "2011-12-07T00:08:35Z")
> [@DianaG](#): > > bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt It appears that you tried to shit in this thread and all that came out was a dainty little lady-fart. Even so, I think an “excuse me” is in order. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/59 "2011-12-08T13:58:49Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [This](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redistribution_(economics)) is what **economists** mean by it, let’s stick with **that.** I guess that works for me. It focuses on actions, policies and mechanisms … the point I was attempting to make. It does refer to “regressive redistribution” but I don’t see any examples. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399/60 "2011-12-08T15:23:23Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > In that case, then, taxes aren’t redistribution either, since I consider what I get in exchange for my taxes to be worth more than the money I spend on them. If I didn’t, I’d go off and move to some desert island somewhere. Taxes aren’t a free exchange of value, or there wouldn’t need to be laws compelling everyone to pay them. You may feel that way, but many don’t. If you believe most people pay their taxes voluntarily, then that is an argument in favor of reducing taxes to pay only for things like defense, and expecting everyone to donate the same amount to public charities and make up the difference. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-not-running-again/604399.md?page=4)