If there’s only one thing the candidates in Massachusetts’ Fourth Congressional District agree on, it’s that one of the biggest issues facing the country right now is the economy.
But how to deal with that issue is one of the many divides reflecting a stark contrast between incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Barney Frank and Republican challenger Sean Bielat, competing in a district comprised of towns and cities in the southeastern corner of the state, including Newton, Taunton and Fall River.
Frank, a 70-year-old Newton lawyer who’s been in the House since 1981, said that one of the primary reasons he is running for reelection is to ensure that the financial regulatory reform bill passed last July is implemented smoothly.
“I want to make sure it’s turning out right,” Frank said of the law during a phone interview with the Daily Collegian last week.
“The Republicans have talked about trying to undo [the bill]. I think it’s very important for avoiding the kind of disaster we had before,” added Frank, who has served as the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee since 2007.
The law, officially known as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act – named for its sponsors, Frank and Senator Chris Dodd (D.-Conn.) – imposes some of the most sweeping regulatory reforms since the Great Depression. It creates new regulatory bureaus and places stricter regulations on the banking and credit industries.
Bielat, a 35-year old ex-U.S. Marine and business consultant from Brookline, is making his first foray into politics this election season.
He believes the financial reform law regulates too many entities that didn’t have an effect on the recent financial crisis, said Lisa Barstow, his campaign director of communications.
“The bill creates 20 new bureaucracies,” Barstow told the Collegian, adding that Bielat feels the roughly 2,300-page document lags in regulating certain financial sectors, such as troubled mortgage backers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
“It creates new bureaucracies that had nothing to do with the financial meltdown,” Barstow reiterated.
Frank also opined on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, telling the Collegian he supports abolishing the two organizations that have received significant government backing since they were put in a conservatorship in 2008 as a result of the subprime mortgage crisis.
“They’ll be abolished and replaced by purely private entities,” Frank said, adding that he believes the dissolution of the two organizations will happen within the next year.
And the differences between the two candidates do non’t end with the economy, as both men have expressed different views regarding health care reform.
Frank, who voted in favor of the health care reform bill signed into law earlier this year by President Barack Obama, said he supports a single-payer healthcare system.
“I was for a single-payer” system,” he said, likening a single-payer approach to Medicare, which he said “works very well.”
Since a single-payer approach didn’t garner enough support on Capitol Hill, Frank said he wants to make sure the health care bill which passed is implemented effectively.
Bielat has expressed his opposition to the health care bill, and Barstow said he supports a type of reform that involves “more freedom and more choice.”
“He thinks that ObamaCare is the wrong approach,” Barstow said of Bielat’s stance on the issue.
Both candidates also have slightly different stances on the military’s controversial “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which bars openly gay men and women from serving in the armed forces.
Frank, who is openly gay, said he supports a complete abolition of the policy.
“I’m hoping we will finish up on ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ when Congress returns” said Frank.
Bielat, Barstow said, would support an abolition of the policy if it’s determined no longer feasible after a close exam by the U.S. Department of Defense.
“You don’t just change something like this overnight,” Barstow said.
Additionally, in his interview with the Collegian, Frank touted his support for working across party lines to support a cutback on military spending – something he declared a top priority. He said he’s been working closely with Rep. Ron Paul (R – Texas) on an initiative.
Barstow also told the Collegian that one of her candidate’s top priorities is job creation.
A poll of 400 likely District 4 voters conducted from Oct. 14 to Oct. 17 by Providence television station WPRI gives Frank the edge in the race, with 49 percent of respondents favoring him to 37.3 percent favoring Bielat. But Bielat trumps Frank 44.1 percent to 34.8 percent in the survey’s body of Independent voters.
Bielat has also picked up endorsements from Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Alaska Gov. and vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. But despite the Palin endorsement, Barstow said Bielat does not necessarily align himself with the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate.
“Sean welcomes the endorsement of everyone,” Barstow said, adding that her candidate differs with Palin on several issues.
William Perkins can be reached at [email protected].
