A Frank look at the market meltdown

Charles Dharapak/Associated PressRepresentative Barney Frank of Massachusetts (right), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, spoke to reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington on Monday. (Charles Dharapak/Associated Press)

SUDDENLY, BARNEY FRANK is everywhere.

Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, he's at the center of efforts to address the financial market meltdown. On Monday night, he was interviewed on the three major network newscasts. On Tuesday, he was pictured on the front page of The New York Times and Wall Street Journal as he held forth about Democratic principles he wants included in any bailout package. On Wednesday night, he was the lead Democrat responding after President Bush addressed the nation. And as reporters try to sort their way through the incredibly complex crisis, he's one of the most sought-after interviews in Washington.

"It's a little surreal," he says.

Surreal it may seem, but it's a role that fits him well. Despite a lingering reputation as a warrior manning the partisan ramparts, at heart Frank is not an ultraideological combatant, but rather a liberal pragmatist. A graduate of Harvard and Harvard Law School, he's as smart as anyone in public life. Add in a strong desire to get things done, a deep grasp of history, a Gatling gun speaking style, and a withering wit, and you have a congressman ready to work in bipartisan fashion when it's possible - but unafraid to join the fray when it's not.

His seriousness makes other policy makers appreciate him.

"When we're faced with a tough situation and a real need for immediate action, Barney approaches the discussion in a pragmatic way and doesn't let the perfect be the enemy of the good," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in a statement to the Globe.

Here's one thing that mars his talent, however: Too often he's Barney Crank, erupting in lectures, rebukes, and scoldings directed at those he finds exasperating. One acquaintance tells this story: Taken aback after the congressman blew up at him over a small matter, he called a longtime friend of Frank's to express his hurt at the outburst.

"He said, 'Join the club,' " this person recalls. That particular club, as any number of reporters can tell you, will never need to launch a membership drive. Asked about that reputation, Frank essentially pleads guilty.

"Yeah, it's true," he says. "Here is the problem. I try to do a lot, and time is a real problem. I should be more tolerant of time-wasting." Truth be told, it isn't simply a time issue. Frank would be even more effective if he could tame his inner ogre.

These days, he finds himself assailed by some conservative editorialists and commentators, who are trying to make him a principal financial crisis culprit, contending he has long been focused on blocking reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. There, his critics have a slight problem: reality. House Democrats were in the minority from 1995 to 2007, which left Frank in no position to hold up anything. Further, Mike Oxley, former Republican chairman of the Financial Services Committee, says Frank was a crucial ally in his own unsuccessful efforts to reform the mortgage giants.

"I just don't recognize that characterization of Barney," Oxley says. What's more, in May 2007, just months after Frank became committee chairman, the House passed a reform bill he put forward.

Frank believes in capitalism, but wants a kind of capitalism where government worries more about inequality, and where there's universal healthcare. "I think there is room in the capitalist system for more attention to equity," he says. "If the tax rate on upper-income people goes up a couple of points, it has no effect" on the economy.

Shortly after taking over as chairman of the Financial Services Committee, he proposed a "grand bargain" with business: more progrowth policies and support for free-trade deals in exchange for things like higher wages, expanded healthcare, and better protection for workers affected by trade - a bargain the business community showed little interest in.

But with unrestrained cowboy capitalism now in disrepute, Frank will have ample opportunity to push his vision forward.

As this crisis has made clear, he has emerged as one of the most important voices in the Democratic Congress.

Scot Lehigh can be reached at lehigh@globe.com.