Barney, we hardly knew ye

Barney Frank, of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac overlook fame, has had enough and won’t take any more:

Just a day after Rep. Barney Frank excoriated federal bailout recipient AIG for “rewarding incompetence” by paying out $165 million in bonuses to its executives in a year when the insurance giant nearly collapsed, the Massachusetts Democrat introduced a bill rescinding all bailouts for failing firms or for homeowners in foreclosure.

So reports Scott Ott, of “News fairly unbalanced. We report. You decipher” fame.

“When I said AIG bonuses reward incompetence, it suddenly occurred to me that these bailouts do the same thing,” said Rep. Frank. “Instead of giving hundreds of billions to the likes of AIG and to people who bought too much house, we’re going to invest in companies and individuals who have managed their money well. From now on, we are going to reward competence.”

 

Rep. Frank said his plan has two simple steps:

 

* Immediately recover the bailout money already disbursed.

* Loan it to companies and individuals who have played by the rules, invested prudently, and didn’t spend beyond their means.

The lawmaker also said he plans to “go after whoever was supposed to be keeping an eye on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but who ignored history and economics in a vain attempt to implement their Utopian ideology about home ownership for everyone regardless of income.”