YDR plays the race card
This Daily Record's editorial from October 16 made unfair charges of racism against unnamed politicians, i.e. Republicans. It's not the first time senior members of this paper have falsely charged a conservative of racism. A year ago Mike Argento painted Bill O'Reilly as a racist over comments he made at a Harlem restaurant. Even after the two black men involved, Al Sharpton and Juan Williams, adamantly denied that O'Reilly was a racist, Argento stood by his story.
This editorial reaches the racism charge through a sort of "bait and switch" attempt. It cites criticism of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and then leaps to the conclusion that the critics are blaming black people who made subprime loans. I'm sorry, but that's patently unfair. Republicans also blamed Democrats in Congress for dropping the down payment requirement for Fannie and Freddie's loans to zero. In addition, while a bank can loan no more than $10 for every $1 of assets it holds, they freed Fannie and Freddie to loan $40 for every $1 they held!
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The editorial quoted Newsweek's Daniel Gross as saying "The CRA didn't force mortgage companies to offer loans for no-money down, or to throw underwriting standards out the window." But that's not accurate. The Washington Post says: "Internal documents show that even late in the housing bubble, Fannie Mae was drawn to risky loans by a variety of temptations, including the desire to increase its market share and fulfill government quotas for the support of low-income borrowers." That's right; Congress imposed quotas to boost loans made to minorities.
In my opinion, a false charge of racism is actually a racial slur. I hope this paper will get the message and stop slurring partisans they don't like.
Jim Ogden
Dover Township
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