Barney Frank won’t be returning to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2013. He’s retiring, and Massachusetts voters will have to decide what kind of politician should replace Frank and his quest for tight financial regulation.

Sean Bielat is running as a Republican for Frank’s seat, and he would bring in a political agenda that is quite different. Whereas Barney Frank was famous for taking on Wall Street and powerful corporations, Bielat seems more interested in coddling and cozying up to these financial behemoths.

Whereas Barney Frank represented the inhabitants of the 4th congressional district in Massachusetts, Bielat seems more interested in serving an elite few down in Texas. After all, that’s where a good deal of Bielat’s money has come from: Power brokers associated with Texas oil.

There’s Ramsey Fahel, with Anadarko Petroleum in San Antonio. There’s Matthew Fatheree, who lives purely off the royalties of oil and gas wells in Southlake, Texas. There’s Jeffrey Foutch, who lives in Houston and works for a natural gas storage company, Peregrine Midstream Partners. There’s Frank Edwin, an executive with IndemCo, a Houston company that “provides surety bonds to oil and gas companies”. There’s John Geis, who works in Texas for Baker Hughes, “an oilfield services company”. There’s Texan Michael Amini, who prospects for Sage Energy. There’s Ronald Crosby, owner of Wynn-Crosby Oil and Gas in Dallas. There’s Lee Staiger in Kingwood, Texas, who works at CML Exploration. There’s Billy Lee of Magnolia Exploration in Houston. There’s Jack Mayfield Jr., the Chairman of the Goldston Oil Corporation.

Get the picture? These are just a few of the many people from Texas working for companies related to the crude oil industry who have given money to help Sean Bielat try to get a seat in Congress. It’s a rather odd pattern, considering that Bielat isn’t running for Congress in Texas. He’s running in Massachusetts, where there are no giant oil fields.

It looks as if, in order to get himself a position of power in the U.S. House of Representatives, Sean Bielat is making arrangements that have very little to do with the needs of the people of the 4th congressional district in Massachusetts. So, why should the voters of that district trust Bielat with their votes in 2012?