He wanted his flock to know he`d gone against his party's position and voted "nay" to the  $700 billion Wall Street bail out proposal.  He failed to mention, however, that it's Queen Nancy Pelosi's pre-election position that her loyal subjects, who might lose their seat to a Republican come November, should feel free to go against the Democrat Party grain to appease the wrath of voters in their home districts.  

   Indeed, Mr. Stupak's newsletter siren song message, which also became an egocentric, self-congratulatory press release to some of his district's newspapers, was that he had heard from thousands of his constituents across northern Michigan and had reviewed their messages, emails and letters regarding the bailout.  

   The bottom line, according to Mr. Stupak, is that "Wall Street executives enjoyed lavish lifestyles and exorbitant salaries while making risky real estate and mortgage investments.  Many of these financial transactions were unregulated and no one exercised oversight of these markets or these individuals.  Now the American taxpayer is being asked to bail out Wall Street for such things as NINJA mortgages.  NINJA mortgages are those granted to individuals with no income, no job and no assets."

   He went on to write that he "cannot ask American families - who work hard, play by the rules and struggle to meet their own financial obligations - to bail out Wall Street executives for their reckless, lavish lifestyles.  

   "For that reason, I voted "no" on H.R. 3997, the Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.  This bailout does not represent our northern Michigan values and it rewards excessive financial shenanigans without any accountability for these irresponsible actions."

   Be that as it may, apparently northern Michigan values and struggling American families weren't of consequence back on June 28, 2007 when Rep. Stupak voted "aye" on HR 2895, the National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act sponsored by Barney "there is no financial crisis" Frank.  HR 2895 was designed to siphon off from $800 million to $1 billion per year from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to build, rehabilitate or preserve 1.5 million units of affordable rental housing over the next decade.  That scheme included down-payment assistance for first time buyers.  

   The bill was reliant on several other related bills, among them HR 1852, which Mr. Stupak also approved with a resounding "aye" on Sept. 18, 2007.  Referred to as a "modernization" bill, HR 1852 was designed to update the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loan programs by allowing risk-based premiums, zero-down housing loans, and increased loan limits in high-risk areas, i.e. the poorer inner city neighborhoods.  It might better have been referred to as the "Low-Income Sucker" bill.

   Although the FHA estimated that the legislators' modernization bill could generate an extra $342 million in revenue in 2008 and help fund the government's National Affordable Housing Trust Fund, the reality of the situation is that taxpayers are now being hit in the wallet for a potential $700 billion bail out, which includes some pork for the legislators who helped get taxpayers into this mess in the first place.  

   Now that the chickens have come home to roost, Mr. Stupak is quick to point his finger at the Bush administration, as if playing the "blame game" will resolve the issue.  However, while the 1st District representative was voting "aye" on these bills last year, the Bush administration was objecting to relying on surpluses and tapping Fannie and Freddie for an affordable-housing fund, saying that the plan could backfire and create pressure for unrestrained growth of the lending giants' loan portfolios.  Rather than heed that warning, Pelosi's Democrats called on the administration to raise the $1.4 trillion cap on those loan portfolios.

   In fact, on Jan. 29, 2008 Queen Pelosi introduced HR 5140, the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008, which is the piece of legislation that brought taxpayers the wonderful rebate this past summer, the one we can't even begin to pay for.  So blinded were taxpayers with the lawmakers' largess that we neglected to watch their left hand, the hand that so skillfully padded the Democrats' bill, HR 5140, with more financial liberties for Fannie and Freddie, thereby enabling the Wall Street executive fat cats, whom Stupak now derides, to live even more lavishly.

   Among other things, HR 5140 raised "the statutory ceiling on the maximum original principal obligation of a mortgage that originated between July 1, 2007 and Dec. 31, 2008, that may be purchased by either Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (sec. 201)."  It also temporarily increased the loan limit for FHA-insured mortgages in high cost areas for which a borrower received credit approval prior to Dec. 31, 2008 and granted the Sec. of Housing and Urban Development discretionary authority to increase loan limits in 2008 based upon the size and location of residences in particular areas (sec. 202), and you can bet those particular areas weren't high-priced homes in exclusive gated communities.

   HR 5140 quickly passed the House and Senate and was signed into law on February 13, 2008.  Among those who voted "aye" was Congressman Bart Stupak.  

   So while Mr. Stupak is singing his "I Voted Nay" siren song to woo your vote in November, just remember that he's singing it with a forked tongue, and once reelected, will go right back to being one of Queen Pelosi's dutiful knaves.  

http://www.inman.com/news/2007/10/4/house-oks-1-billion-year-housing-fund

http://www.votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_detail.php?cs_id=16935&can_id=26912

Google Search:  "Fannie, Freddie and the Fools in Washington, D. C." - C. J. Williams