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Moderate Republicans are reverse Houdinis. They tie themselves up in knots and then tell you they can’t do anything because they’re tied up in knots.

Barney Frank

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Barney Frank
Age: 84
Born: 1940
Born: March 31
Former U.S. Representative
Politician
Bayonne
New Jersey
Barnett Frank
Republican
Tell
Knots
Anything
Moderate
Moderates
Reverse
Tied
Republicans
Ties

More quotes by Barney Frank

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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
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What's troubling is that the Republicans to defend Mr. DeLay are weakening the ethics process.
Barney Frank
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Bush senior used to say that we have more will than wallet. So he urged the country to attack poverty with a thousand points of light, none of which could be eaten.
Barney Frank
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There were a lot of Romneys. There's the Romney who was going to be better on gay rights than Ted Kennedy now there's a Romney who checks with Rick Santorum on that issue.
Barney Frank
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The people who started the American government, the founders of the Constitution, didn't like political parties but they were forced to start them. Nobody ever created political parties in England, they evolved. And there do tend to be two general tendencies that focus around how much government you think you need.
Barney Frank
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[Democrats] are trying on every front to increase the role of government.
Barney Frank
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Serving in Congress is like having a second shot at high school.
Barney Frank
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And unless you think there is a serious chance you're going to jail, don't listen to your lawyer.
Barney Frank
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Capitalism works better from every perspective when the economic decision makers are forced to share power with those who will be affected by those decisions.
Barney Frank
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I am very proud of the role I played in getting legal equality for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, and in helping get rid of the prejudice by being visible about it, helping to block the conviction of Bill Clinton of impeachment.
Barney Frank
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I had always been interested in politics. I had assumed - 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
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It is, of course, further indication that a fundamentalist right has really taken over much of the Republican Party, People might cite George Bush as proof that you can be totally impervious to the effects of Harvard and Yale education.
Barney Frank
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The problem with the war in Iraq is not so much the intelligence as the stupidity.
Barney Frank
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We don't get ourselves dry cleaned.
Barney Frank
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They appear to have become so attached to their outrage that they are even more outraged that they won't be able to be outraged anymore.
Barney Frank
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But when others suggested that the poor should not simply be the objects of these programs but also the subjects - that they should be actively involved in shaping the programs, making decisions about how to spend the money etc. - some of the previous supporters reconsidered.
Barney Frank
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Community action is as valuable a principle on the international level as it has been domestically.
Barney Frank
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Lawyers are very, very good at keeping you out of prison, but they will sacrifice your reputation and credibility to do so.
Barney Frank
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I have this fear that one day there's going to be a fire in the Senate and there are only going to be 57 senators there and they’ll all die because they won't have 60 votes to allow themselves to leave the building.
Barney Frank
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It seems to me that politicians ought to use the same words as other people.
Barney Frank