“Barney Frank” on The Daily Caller

NEWTON, Ma. — Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank announced at a 1 p.m. press conference that he will not run for re-election in 2012, citing a tough political battle due to redistricting and “too many restrictions against what I want to do.” (more)

Channel Five News in Boston has announced that Rep. Barney Frank will not run for re-election in 2012. The longtime liberal stalwart and co-author of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill plans to announce his impending retirement at a 1 p.m. press conference. (more)

On Friday night’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” on HBO, Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, who is perhaps one of the most liberal members of the House of Representatives, said the Republicans should nominate former U.S. ambassador to China and former Utah Gov. John Huntsman — arguably the least conservative candidate in the field — to face President Barack Obama in the 2012 election. (more)

(NYT) — Federal regulators, badly behind schedule for enforcing the Dodd-Frank financial regulatory overhaul, are now gradually stepping up their rule-writing efforts. (more)

Live television has its drawbacks. A big one is that you never know when an accident might happen. (more)

The White House will not name Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren to lead the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Washington Post reports, even though she spent the past year setting up the agency. (more)

Nearly one year after the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act, legislation full of regulation meant to protect consumers, some are calling for a closer examination of the bill. (more)

The “strange bedfellows of the week” award might just land at the feet of Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank and Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul. (more)

If you have ever listened to the paid subscription feed of Rush Limbaugh’s radio program, during the commercial breaks while terrestrial radio listeners hear the usual commercials, a series of parodies are played mocking various political figures. (more)

“Atlas Shrugged: Part 1,” the film adaptation of Ayn Rand’s prescient, unabashedly pro-free market capitalism novel, hits theaters April 15. Its timing could not be better. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans said Wednesday that a new government agency designed to protect consumers from problems with mortgages, credit cards and other lenders has too much power. They also criticized it for participating in a federal-state effort to force mortgage servicers to change the way they foreclose on troubled homeowners. (more)

Editor’s Note: Have a question for Matt Labash? Submit it here (more)

On February 9, House Republicans will begin their effort to reform government sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the giant mortgage lenders many blame for the 2008 financial collapse. The firms were both left out of the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill that was passed last summer to remedy the causes of the most recent recession. (more)

This week, the president delivered his State of the Union address to Congress. The president talked at length about several investments that we must make in our country, and I agree that we should look for common ground where investments are needed. Unfortunately, we did not hear him talk about areas where we can afford to make due with less right now, and that’s where this Congress has its work cut out. We must push the president to create a more fiscally responsible budget. (more)

Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who’s slated to deliver several speeches in Iowa in the coming weeks, is keeping mum on a potential presidential bid, but told The Daily Caller that she plans to use her platform to speak out against President Barack Obama. (more)

In the next Congress, Republicans will require every bill to cite its specific constitutional authority, a reminder to color inside the lines drawn long ago by the Founding Fathers. (more)

The resounding win by the Republicans in November holds the promise of getting some control on spending in Washington. It seems, for the moment, that Congress is focusing on this goal, thanks to its members’ feet being held to the fire by the Tea Party. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Advocates of a bill that would overturn the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy say their fight for repeal this year is far from over despite a failing Senate vote this week and only days left in the lame-duck session. (more)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Slowly, painfully and reluctantly, congressional Democrats are slogging their way toward acceptance of President Barack Obama’s tax cut compromise, which would let rich and poor Americans keep Bush-era tax cuts that were scheduled to expire this month. (more)

The Democrats’ main tax-writing congressman and for years head of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, Charlie Rangel (D-NY), finally had to accept the terrible punishment for his ways and means of getting money by being the first congressman censured in about thirty years. For the record, as the Congressional Ethics Committee sees it, there has been just one unethical politician in their ranks in the past thirty years. Good to know. (more)