Politics

BOSTON (WBZ) ― Congressman Barney Frank says he would not want Sen. John Kerry's seat if Kerry is to move onto the Obama administration. He says he has tremendous opportunities now in the House. And he says he doesn't think that the current state law should change which gives voters the opportunity to choose the next Senator.

He says he thinks very highly of Obama's next Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel.

Congressman Frank says the House will vote on an economic recovery program the week after next. He isn't sure how the Senate will vote on it.

He says last month, Congress helped to keep credit moving, and "now it's time to help the rest of the country.... It's time to give money for the state so construction projects don't shut down. so we have the benefit of the highways... and we get some people employed."

Frank says his top two priorities are to increase regulations and affordable rental housing.

"We've got to adopt regulations that constrain activity in the financial community that will keep us from getting into the bind we got into. We cannot allow the large financial institutions, the hedge funds, and investment banks to engage in the kind of reckless financial activity they did." He added, "We will continue the process of saying you can't lend money to poor people who can't pay you back."

"Unlike what we saw under George Bush, a major part of my goal is not to push people into buying a home they can't afford. I always thought that was a mistake and I was critical of it. I think for the lower income people we have to build affordable rental housing, decent public private rental housing, and we will make that a high priority."

Frank wants the balance the budget, and believes lawmakers cut the deficit by the end of Obama's first term as president. Franks says to do so he supports raising taxes on the wealthy to the levels from under the Clinton administration, and cutting the defense budget by 25 percent.

"We have a terrible deficit, there's no way we can reduce the deficit without increasing taxes on the wealthy people, back to what they were under Bill Clinton. Bush reduced the tax rate on the wealthy people from where it had been under Clinton, and under Clinton the economy worked fine. There was no argument that kept the economy from functioning. We're talking about people who make over 200,000 dollars a year. And taxing only that part of the income, which is above 200,000. But we're continuing to build Cold War weapons, we continue to ahve the mentality we're going to police the world, and we're spending 7 to 8 hundred billion dollars on the military."

He argues, "There's no way you can reduce the budget deficit without a significant tax increase, or without cutting out virtually all programs education, housing, the environment, transportation, unless you reduce the military budget. We are by far the strongest nation in the world. We are overcommitted. I want America to defend itself. I don't want it to be the world's policeman. There are other countryies that are wealthy now, they're too dependent on the US to be their country's protector, and I don't think we can afford it."

"The fact is," Frank says, "You could take the Chinese budget, the Russian budget, and the budget of any other conceivable enemy and add them up and we're still going to be four times as big as we are. The massive disparity between American power and the others is overwhelming. The margin of superiority the U.S. military has over any all the other militaries in the world is so enormous that you could cut 25 percent and no body would even notice. "

Congressman Frank says is the Democrats opportunity to show you can have a successful free market economy, while being socially fair and responsible and protect the environment.

To those who are concerned about Democrats' ability to deliver on their promises, he says, "Be skeptical. I don't expect them to take my word for it. Judge us by the results."

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)