Heard on the Hill: Can Barney Frank Be Replaced?
With Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) calling it quits after next year, HOH will be missing an eminently quotable politician. As Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) put it in his statement about Frank’s retirement: “No one’s ever doubted for a minute what Barney Frank thinks or where he stands, and if you weren’t sure, trust me, he’d tell you.”
So here are a couple of number-type items about Frank that were always available for good HOH copy.
• Sex scandals weathered: 1
• Number of times Frank has officially come out: 2 (privately in 1978; very publicly in 1987)
• Schools at which Frank has taught: 3 (Boston University, Harvard University, University of Massachusetts — Boston)
• Number of times Frank has been dubbed the “brainiest” Member of the House by a Washingtonian poll of Congressional staffers: 4
• Presidents served: 5
• Congressional terms: 16
• Bills introduced: 714
• Heated floor spats with ideological foil North Carolina GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx (See today’s “Take 5.”):
Innumerable
So HOH has to ask: Without Frank, who’s the heir apparent for being champion at pithy, withering floor statements? Let us know: hoh@rollcall.com.
Submit your hot tips and juicy gossip.
Can't get enough HOH? Get a midday dose of fun and gossip, delivered to your inbox
daily. Sign up for HOH's One-Minute Recess — because everyone deserves
more recess.
Heard on the Hill Headlines
By
Warren Rojas
| May 25, 2012
Pro-choice activists went on the offensive this week after one of their own got dressed down by a flight crew for donning what American Airlines personnel deemed to be an over-the-top T-shirt.
By
Warren Rojas
| May 25, 2012
John Scofield, the one-time mouthpiece for the Congressional committee tasked with burning through money, was back in the news this week. Only this time he let his cooking do all the talking.
By
Warren Rojas
| May 25, 2012
The house where the legendary 1972 porn “Deep Throat” was filmed is now on the market in Miami, Fla., the real estate blog Zwillow reports.
By
Warren Rojas
| May 24, 2012
Rep. Sean Duffy is kicking it “old school” on Highway 53 on the way to Lake Superior.
By
Warren Rojas
| May 24, 2012
First lady Michelle Obama has been calling on kids and parents to climb aboard the healthy-eating bandwagon for years now.
By
Warren Rojas
| May 24, 2012
Chicago residents: The next time you receive a package, closely ogle the delivery guy. He might be your Congressman.
By
Warren Rojas
| May 24, 2012
The U. S. Capitol Page Alumni Association starts rolling into town today for a reunion weekend jam-packed with educational activities and nostalgia-stoking get-togethers. Too bad most of Congress won’t be around to participate.
By
Warren Rojas
| May 24, 2012
Democrats get ready! Local tea party folks plan to greet those attending the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C., with some serious political verbiage — at least the ones arriving via the highway. “When the DNC arrives, we will have an impact,” Yadkin Valley Tea Party activist Mark Hager pledges.
By
Warren Rojas
| May 23, 2012
Last Thursday, Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) stoked the birthers when he said President Barack Obama wasn’t American, at least not in his heart, and he’s been walking back, or sideways or forward, from the statement since.
By
Warren Rojas
| May 23, 2012
Unless the Library of Congress knows something we don’t, the hip-hop classic “Rapper’s Delight” was recorded by the Sugarhill Gang in 1979 and not by the late great Donna Summer in 1977.
