Frank: Democrats will pursue stimulus package after election

Congressman Barney Frank said Sunday that congressional Democrats will push for another U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Newton)stimulus package after the November election.

It was reported over the weekend that the Democratic leadership is considering a middle class stimulus package that could be as large as $150 billion.

In an appearance on ABC's "This Week" with George Stephanopoulos, Frank said the reports were accurate.

"Yes we are going to do a stimulus," the Newton Democrat said.

Frank, the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said the stimulus package would be aimed at giving "the middle class and the average citizen the same type of relief that we try to give the financial sector."

The stimulus package would reportedly provide funds for additional unemployment benefits, food stamps and public infrastructure projects. Congress quickly passed another stimulus package earlier this year that sent $600 tax rebate checks to individuals and $1,200 to couples.

Congressman Roy Blunt, the Minority Whip in the House, also said he would be open to the package.

"I certainly will work on a stimulus package that makes sense," Blunt, a Missouri Republican, said.

Blunt, however, said he would be skeptical of a stimulus proposal that is an "excuse to do what Democrats have wanted to do from day one of this Congress, which is a huge public works plan."

Frank was also asked about recent criticism pointed at Democrats for not acting sooner to regulate or reform embattled mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Frank acknowledged that "none of us foresaw the extent to which subprime lending was going to reverberate negatively throughout the economy," but that said that, ultimately, his hands were tied because Republicans controlled Congress.

"The facts are very clear, the 12 years the Republicans were in control of Congress, they never moved a bill," Frank said. "We were in power and within five months of the Democrats taking over, we did pass a bill to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."