FannieMae asked to take more risk? We're not kidding.

The Wall Street Journal leads off today with:

Back when the housing mania was taking off, Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank famously said he wanted Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to "roll the dice" in the name of affordable housing. That didn't turn out so well, but Mr. Frank has since only accumulated more power. And now he is returning to the scene of the calamity -- with your money. He and New York Representative Anthony Weiner have sent a letter to the heads of Fannie and Freddie exhorting them to lower lending standards for condo buyers.

What's going on here? Mr. Frank wants Fannie and Freddie to take more risk in condo developments with high percentages of unsold units, high delinquency rates or high concentrations of ownership within the development.

While the taxpayers are footing the bill for FannieMae's and FreddieMac's loss of billions upon billions gambling of the mortgage market, more losses are on the way because their

"new "mission" has become to do whatever it takes to prop up the housing market. The last thing they need is lawmakers like Mr. Frank, who did so much to lay the groundwork for their collapse, telling them to play faster and looser with their lending standards.

Read "Barney the Underwriter. Telling Fannie Mae to take more credit risk. Now there's an idea."

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