Barney Frank at Brown this afternoon

UPDATE: From projo.com:

Frank also dismissed charges the Democrats failed on their own or blocked Republican efforts to rein in the mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The federal government recently took control of both entities.

House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio called Frank's remarks "a lame, desperate attempt to divert Americans' attention away from the Democratic party's obstruction of reforms that would have reined in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and helped our nation avoid this economic crisis."

"Congressman Frank should retract his ridiculous statements and start taking responsibility for the role he and other top Democrats played in putting Main Street Americans in this mess," Boehner said.

Frank said Republicans controlled Congress for 12 years and passed no regulation, while Democrats passed a Bush administration Fannie and Freddie regulation package since gaining control of the House and Senate in January 1997.

"If I could have stopped a Republican bill during the Bush years, I would have started with the war in Iraq. Then I would have gone to the Patriot Act. Then I would have gone on to the hundreds of millions in tax cuts," said Frank, to applause from the audience.

The longtime congressman is being challenged this fall by both Republican and independent candidates. He has been criticized in his liberal district, which wends its way from Newton to New Bedford, for being one of the leaders of congressional efforts last week to win approval of a $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan.

He was greeted at the Colonnade Hotel by a group of protesters who argued the money would be better spent on community problems. They chanted, "Money for the people, not for the banks."

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I've been away from the office for a few days and remain in catch-up mode.

Yet as the fallout from the fiscal crisis continues, the elected officials facing sharp questions include US Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts, chairman of the Financial Services Committee, who is slated to be making an appearance at Brown this afternoon.

Monday 6 October
A Conversation with Rep. Barney Frank
U.S. Representative Barney Frank, the Democratic chairman of the House Financial Services Committee who played a key role in winning passage of the government's financial rescue package last week, will deliver a lecture today, presented by the Noah Krieger Memorial Lecture Series. First elected by the Massachusetts fourth congressional district in 1980, Frank is widely recognized as one of the leaders of the Democratic Party in the House. He has been a strong supporter of liberal immigration policies, affordable housing, the legalization of medical marijuana, and gay rights issues. His talk begins at 4 p.m. in the Salomon Center for Teaching, De Ciccio Family Auditorium.