RJ and Makay

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee and co-author of the Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation, announced Monday that he will not seek re-election in 2012 and will retire from Congress at the end of next year.  Frank stated that congressional redistricting was the main reason behind not seeking another term in office.

Frank acknowledged that redistricting would make for a “tough” re-election bid and bring a whole new set of constituents, effectively taking him away from serving his current constituents and protecting financial reform.

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Today marks the first anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which was designed as a sweeping overhaul of the nations financial regulatory system.  Amid signs that the tightened regulatory structure could still be rolled back, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Monday that the financial system was “on more solid ground” than at any time since the financial crisis of 2008.

On Wednesday Rep. Spencer Bachus (R – Alabama) was elected by the House Republican Conference to serve as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) for the 112 Congress. He will be replacing Rep. Barney Frank (D-Masschussetts) as chairman when Congress meets in January.

Bachus says the new leadership plans to reinvigorate the committee’s oversight activities. “As Chairman of the Committee, I will honor our pledge to America and act on the priorities the American people delivered us last November,” he said in a statement. “We are going to protect taxpayers by ending ‘too big to fail’ and the Administration’s unlimited bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. We are committed to going title by title through the 2,300 page Dodd Frank Act to correct, replace, or repeal the job killing provisions that unnecessarily punish small businesses and community banks that did nothing to cause the financial crisis.”