Letter to the Editor
I sent this to the Philadelphia Inquirer today.
The Inquirer took gratuitous and baseless cheap shot at President Bush in blaming him for the “economic mess - and likely recession”. Here are a few facts the Inquirer has neglected to bring to its readers attention.
The Clinton administration great loosened the mortgage underwriting requirements and promoted “home ownership for all”. It also pushed Fannie to expand its efforts to get lower income Americans into their own homes. Fannie obliged, greatly increasing its portfolio. Leftwing law firms and community organizers also frequently sued mortgage lenders who didn’t play the game enough.
In 2003, concerned about the potential problems caused by Fannie’s increasing size, the Bush administration proposed greatly strengthening the regulations. The legislation was blocked by Congressional Democrats, including Barney Frank who said Fannie faced no financial crisis.
While there are ample opportunities to take issue with the current President, this does not strike me as one of them. Is the Inquirer going to become the Daily Kos in print or will it do the job it claims to do?
[...] Inquirer published my letter, although they chopped it pretty thoroughly. Here’s the original text for comparison. The Inquirer took a gratuitous and baseless cheap shot at President Bush in [...]