This is a copy of a letter from 2004 House Democrats and sent to then-President George W Bush. In it, the signatories complained that the administration had taken a hard line with ‘housing-related government sponsored enterprises’ (GSEs) such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by insisting on emphasizing fiscal prudence and responsible lending over increased affordable housing access. The relevant section?

We have been concerned that the Administration’s legislative proposal regarding the GSEs would weaken affordable housing performance by the GSEs, by emphasizing only safety and soundness. While the GSEs’ affordable housing mission is not in any way incompatible with their safety and soundness, an exclusive focus on safety and soundness is likely to come, in practice, at the expense of affordable housing.

Needless to say, this letter more or less completely subverts the narrative – lovingly created during the 2008 campaign, and kept up ever since – that the entire housing meltdown was really the (racist) Republicans’ fault. Barney Frank is particularly outrageous, here: he’s gone from being Freddie Mac’s most devoted patron to calling for its dissolution without once explaining (or apologizing for) his own role in the mess. Which is a strategy that worked fine in 2008; but it isn’t 2008 anymore.

Several additional thoughts on the matter:

I think that we have established by now that the unprincipled expansion of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – fueled by Democrats (including Maxine Waters, who is under investigation right now for using TARP money to bail out her husband’s residential loan-happy bank), by the way – is incompatible with promoting ‘safety and soundness’. I’m pretty sure that having our GSEs in a state of perpetual bailout is doing even more to hurt access to affordable housing. The signatories of the letter are, to the best of my knowledge, either all still in Congress or have had their seats taken by another Democrat. This should be repaired: there is a list below.

Moe Lane

Hypocrite

District

2010 GOP Candidate

Website

Artur Davis

AL-07

Don Chamberlain

www.donchamberlain.me/

Mike Ross

AR-04

Beth Anne Rankin

http://www.bethannerankinforcongress.com/

Raul M. Grijalva

AZ-07

Ruth McClung

www.ruth4az.com/

George Miller

CA-07

Rick Tubbs

www.ricktubbs4congress.com/

Barbara Lee

CA-09

Gerald Hashimoto

www.geraldforcongress.com/

Anna Eshoo

CA-14

Dave Chapman

www.davechapmanforcongress.com/

Michael M. Honda

CA-15

Scott Kirkland

http://www.kirkland2010.com/

Sam Farr

CA-17

Jeff Taylor

www.taylor4congress.com/site/

Brad Sherman

CA-27

Mark Reed

www.markreedforcongress.com/

Maxine Waters

CA-29

John P. Colbert

www.johncolbertforcongress.com/

Lucille Roybal-Allard

CA-34

Wayne Miller

www.waynemiller34th.com/

Nancy Pelosi

CA-8

John Dennis

www.johndennis2010.com/

John Lewis

GA-05

Fenn Little

www.fennlittle.com

Jim Marshall

GA-08

Austin Scott

http://www.scottforga.com/

David Scott

GA-13

Mike Crane

www.craneforcongress.com/

Sanford D. Bishop

GA-2

Mike Keown

www.mikekeown.com/

Luis V. Gutierrez

IL-04

Israel Vasquez

www.israel2congress.com/index.html

Danny Davis

IL-07

Mark Weiman

www.weiman2010.com/

Dennis Mooore

KS-03

Kevin Yoder

www.yoderforcongress.com/

John Olver

MA-01

Bill Gunn

http://www.billgunnforcongress.org/

Richard E. Neal

MA-02

TBD

James McGovern

MA-03

Brian Herr

www.brianherr.com/

Barney Frank

MA-04

Sean Bielat

www.seanbielat.org/

Martin Meehan

MA-05

TBD

John F. Tierney

MA-06

Bill Hudak

www.hudakforcongress.com/

Michael Capuano

MA-08

None

Stephen Lynch

MA-09

TBD

William D Delahunt

MA-10

TBD

Steny Hoyer

MD-05

Charles Lollar

www.lollarforcongress.com/index.php/home /

Sander M. Levin

MI-12

Don Volaric

www.volaricforcongress.com

John Dingell

MI-15

Robert Steele

www.robsteeleforcongress.com/

Betty McCollum

MN-04

Teresa Collett

www.collettforcongress.com/

Lacy Clay

MO-01

Robyn Hamlin

http://www.hamlinforcongress.com/

Bennie Thompson

MS-02

Bill Marcy

www.billmarcyforcongress.com/

Bob Etheridge

NC-02

Renee Ellmers

www.reneeforcongress.com/

David E. Price

NC-04

B.J. Lawson

http://www.lawsonforcongress.com/

Melvin Watt

NC-12

Greg Dority

www.gregdorityforcongress.com/

Brad Miller

NC-13

William A. Randall

www.randallforcongress.com/

Donald M Payne

NJ-10

Michael Alonso

www.michaeljalonso.com

Robert Menedenz

NJ-13

Henrietta Dwyer

http://www.dwyer4congress.com/

Steve Israel

NY-02

John Gomez

www.gomez2010.com/default/index.cfm

Carolyn McCarthy

NY-04

Frank Scaturro

www.frankscaturro.com/

Gary Ackerman

NY-05

TBD

Gergory Meeks

NY-06

Asher Taub

www.taubforcongress.com

Joseph Crowley

NY-07

TBD

Edolphus Towns

NY-10

TBD

Carolyn Maloney

NY-14

TBD

Charles Rangel

NY-15

Michel Faulkner

www.faulknerforcongress.com/

Joe Baca

NY-23

TBD

Marcy Kaptur

OH-09

Rich Iott

www.voteiott.com/

Earl Blumenauer

OR-03

Delia Lopez

www.dlopezforcongress.com/

Robert A. Brady

PA-01

Pia Varma

www.votepia.com

Chaka Fattah

PA-02

Rick Hellberg

www.rickhellberg.mypoliticalsite.com/

Paul E. Kanjorksi

PA-11

Lou Barletta

www.loubarletta.com/

Patrick Kennedy

RI-01

John Loughlin

www.johnloughlin.org

James Langevin

RI-02

Bill Clegg

www.billcleggforcongress.com/index.php

Ruben Hinojosa

TX-15

Eddie Zamora

www.elect-eddiezamora.com/

Charles A. Gonzalez

TX-20

Clayton Trotter

www.trotterforcongress.com/

Chris Bell

TX-25

Donna Campbell

http://www.drdonnaforcongress.com/

Robert C Scott

VA-03

Chuck Smith

www.chucksmith2010.com/

James P. Moran

VA-08

J. Patrick Murray

www.murray4congress.com/

Jay Inslee

WA-01

James Watkins

www.watkinsforcongress.com/

Jim McDermott

WA-07

None

Nick Rahall

WV-03

Elliott ‘Spike’ Maynard

http://www.ilikespike.org/

Crossposted to Moe Lane.