November 19, 2008 Jim Braude's salute to Barney "Mr. Fix it" Frank Play video

(NECN: Jim Braude) - It seems Barney Frank is everywhere these days. If there's a hearing, he chairs it, if there's a TV liveshot, he's in it. He even woke me up when my radio alarm went off this morning! And, no matter what the crisis is, or how big the problem, Barney's got an answer!

"Tycoon Barney" is still sweating details of that $700 billion Wall Street bailout. He's figured out who the good guys and bad buys of high finance are. Now, if only Hank Paulson would put the money where Barney's mouth is. Meanwhile, "Car Repair Barney" is telling the dinosaurs of GM, Ford and Chrysler to transform themselves, immediately, into clean, lean competitive machines. And, by the way, the payback of the loan is due next year, so stop losing money, now, or else.

"George Bailey" Barney has the answer for billions in bad loans and the tidal wave of foreclosures. All it takes is tweaking the interest rates here, and tinkering with the payback terms there, and goodbye, Mr. Potter, happy days are here again. It's easy to accuse Frank of overreacting, but who else are we going to turn to?

Would we be better off if the solution to our problems was in the hands of Mitt "Drop Dead, Detroit," Romney? Barney might not know everything, but he knows a lot more than the guy who really has too much on his plate. Tell us once again, Mr. Paulson, now that you've spent $300 billion with nothing to show for it, what's your plan for getting us out of this mess?