Odd couple tackles mortgages

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank make an unlikely pair. Bernanke, the soft-spoken former Princeton department chair and textbook author, and Barney, blunt and wise-cracking pol, have worked to tighten mortgage lending rules in light of the recent housing market crisis. While Bernanke has worked from the federal standpoint to write consumer protection rules, Frank has advanced legislation that strengthens lending regulations.