What would be the nicest thing I could say about Newt Gingrich? He may be one of the great supporters of the humanities, because you have people who don’t want to study the social sciences, because it’s not profitable, and now Newt, as the highest-paid historian in American history, may be an encouragement to people to study history. Barney Frank Read Quote
In America, unlike England, unlike Israel, unlike Japan, other democracies, we have elections that have staggered terms. Barney Frank Read Quote
Well, I don’t give it out very often, but I reject the notion that you have to be a practitioner to give good advice. Barney Frank Read Quote
I had always been interested in politics. I had assumed, for a variety of – well, for two reasons, being Jewish and being gay back in the late ’50s, early ’60s – that I would never be elected or anything, but I would participate as an activist. Barney Frank Read Quote
I have done a lot of work for affordable housing, rental housing. I understand the rap on me and other liberals is, oh, we push poor people into homeownership. And it’s exactly the opposite of the case. We were trying to prevent those kinds of bad loans. Barney Frank Read Quote
There’s only one thing you can do in bankruptcy: break your word, break your deals. It allows you to say to the small businesses, who have been catering lunches for you, ‘Sorry, we’re not paying you.’ It allows you to go to the workers and say, ‘Sorry, we’re not paying you.’ Barney Frank Read Quote
Television is apparently the enemy of nuance. But nuance is essential for a thoughtful discussion. Barney Frank Read Quote
As a liberal, I am morally obligated to be pragmatic. What good do I do poor people, elderly people, people who are being discriminated against because of their sexual orientation if I’m not realistic about accomplishing something. Barney Frank Read Quote
I was still closeted, but from the day I decided to run for office, knowing that I was gay, I decided that I would, of course, still be closeted but that I would work very hard for gay rights. It would be totally dishonorable, being gay, not to do that. So I had that as kind of a secondary agenda. Barney Frank Read Quote
