[img_assist|nid=4281|title=A Republicans protestor dressed in a Barney the Dinosaur outfit|desc=Photo Credit: PolitickerNH.com|link=none|align=middle|width=420|height=315]

MANCHESTER-- U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) began a speech at a Democratic fundraising event on Saturday by discussing the decline of moderate Republicans.

Frank said that he worked with moderate Republicans in Congress, but the Republican Party is now controlled by conservatives.

"I can remember when the New Hampshire Republican Party was proud of David Souter, so there is a history of moderate Republicans," Frank said at the New Hampshire Democratic Party's Jefferson Jackson Dinner. "Unfortunately they have disappeared."

Frank added that congressional moderate Republicans often vote the party line on important votes.

"I'll say this about moderate Republicans, they are with us right up to the point it matters. When their vote matters they are never there," Frank said.

Frank also hammered U.S. Sen. John Sununu's (R-Waterville Valley) voting record.

"When I heard that John Sununu voted 90 percent with George Bush, I thought Bush has been right more than 10 percent," Frank joked.

He also took issue with Sununu's claim that Sununu's attempts at regulating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were blocked by Democratic members of Congress.

Discussing a Wall Street Journal article that said Sununu attempted to reform the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Frank said, "It said John Sununu tried to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2003. Who controlled Congress in 2003? It was the Republicans."

Frank argued that the congressional Republican leadership blocked attempts to regulate the financial industry.

Frank added, "John Sununu couldn't get the Democrats; no apparently he couldn't even get his own party to pay attention to him."