Engaged: Barney Frank , 71, and longtime partner Jim Ready , 42, the congressman’s office confirmed for us Thursday, following a report by New England Cable News . Where’s the wedding? In Massachusetts, where gay nuptials were made legal in 2004. When? Sorry, that’s all the details they’d give. Frank is set to leave Congress next winter after 32 years, and he’s said the rigors of the job and the desire to devote more time to his relationship were factors. “I have a partner now,” Frank told Charlie Rose in an interview a couple weeks ago. “I’m in love for the first time in my life.” The couple met at a political fundraiser in Ready’s home state of Maine. The Advocate described him in 2009 as a Todd Palin lookalike and surfing enthusiast. Their mostly low-profile relationship has made the news a handful of times, when Ready exchanged words with his beau’s opponents at public forums, and when he was charged with having marijuana plants at his home in 2007. Read full article > >

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Barney Frank engaged to boyfriend Jim Ready (updated)

Here come the Kennedys. Again. Two and a half years after the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and a year after his son Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) retired from Congress, the Kennedy clan looks as though it will attempt a return to national office. Joe Kennedy III , the 31-year-old grandson of Robert F. Kennedy and son of former Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-Mass.), is forming an exploratory committee for the seat of retiring Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). To do so, Kennedy is reportedly leaving his position as Middlesex County assistant district attorney — a good indication of how serious he is about the race. Read full article > >

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A Kennedy will run for Congress

The sight of Rep. Barney Frank wearing a casual t-shirt on the House floor Monday caused more than a few raised eyebrows — room temperature notwithstanding. The Massachusetts Democrat, who’s leaving Congress next year, appeared on the floor not in the traditional shirt, tie and jacket but in a thin blue top and a jacket slung over his shoulders. C-SPAN cameras captured the ensemble, which highlighted Frank’s less-than-buff torso, and the image quickly went viral, drawing snickers across the Internet. Read full article > >

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Barney Frank: What’s the House floor dress code, anyway?

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) figures the nation could raise a little cash by licensing Internet gambling. Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) wants to save money on prison beds by letting convicts out early if they learn to read. And House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Calif.) joined forces with Democrats on his panel to tell congressional budget-cutters where they should NOT look for savings: The Pentagon, which is already struggling to respond to two previous rounds of cuts. Read full article > >

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Advice from lawmakers pours in to ‘supercommittee’

“If two people always agree,” says Ben Bernanke, “one of them is redundant.” So imagine what the Federal Reserve chairman thinks of Rep. Barney Frank’s legislation designed to dampen dissent within the Fed . Fond of diversity in everything but thought, a certain kind of liberal favors mandatory harmony (e.g., campus speech codes ). Such liberals, being realists at least about the strength of their arguments, discourage “too much” debate about them (e.g., restrictions on campaign spending to disseminate political advocacy). Now Frank wants to strip the presidents of the Fed’s 12 regional banks of their right to vote as members of the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee . Read full article > >

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For Barney Frank, no Fed dissent will do

A political group of gay conservatives will begin airing ads against a handful of Democratic candidates on Monday, including a spot against openly gay Congressman Barney Frank of Massachusetts.

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Gay conservatives target Barney Frank