Newt: Arrest Barney Frank! Frank: Oh No You Didn't!

In the face of the popular uprising known as #OccupyWallStreet, various legislators and political leaders are attempting to either cast their lot with the demonstrators or demonize the movement, with Nancy Pelosi and Eric Cantor notably coming to verbal blows over what the Occupation means for the political landscape in America.  Republican candidates for president are no exception, with Newt Gingrich making plain his viewpoint on the matter.

In last night's Republican debate, Newt wasted no time in trashing leftist activists as vandals and then went further, suggesting that Wall Street isn't the problem, but legislators guilty of financial malfeasance.  He lays the blame squarely on Fed Chairman Bernanke, former Senator Chris Dodd, and Congressman Barney Frank.  Then he went on to suggest that they should be jailed for their actions.  Watch:



 Now, you wouldn't expect Barney Frank, a firebrand by any definition of the word, to take this lying down, and he didn't.  He responds today:

Frank said Gingrich’s anger over his and Dodd’s role in the financial meltdown was absurd given that Republicans were in charge of the House and — excerpt for a brief period — Senate, from 1995 to 2007.He noted that he worked on reform legislation on mortgage in his first year as chair in 2007. 

 Barney ain't havin' it.

“It’s interesting, the charge is failure to stop Newt Gingrich and Tom Delay from deregulating,” he said. “This notion we caused the problem that started while they were in charge even by Gingrich’s standards is very odd.” 

Added Frank: “I wish I knew that he was willing to listen to my advice, I would have given him some: I would have told him not to impeach Clinton, I would have told his successors not to go to war with Iraq, and I would have told DeLay not to go on the dance show.”

Frank went on to speculate as to why Gingrich would make such a ridiculous suggestion:

“He’s been having a bad year, you know — this self-styled intellectual leader of the free world struggling to stay ahead of Michele Bachmann in the polls is unsettling him so he talks even sillier than he sometimes does,” he said.

Republican leadership slowly appears to be realizing that their asses are in hot water, and they're quick to make baseless and outrageous allegations regarding blame in the economic collapse of recent years to punt their culpability.  America isn't particularly fooled; the majority of Americans now support tax hikes for the richest 1%, to include 53% of Republican voters.

Gingrich and his cronies have been protecting Wall Street interests for decades, is it any surprise that he desperately wants you to be angry at someone else?