Lending practices caused the crash

Yes, the financial crisis did have a number of causes as stated in the editorial ["Whose side is Congress on?" May 26]. However, a main cause of the economic collapse, left out by the editorial board, was government meddling in the housing industry.

During the Clinton presidency and leading up to the crisis, lenders were pressured by federal officials to relax lending standards and issue mortgages to people whose incomes would have otherwise deemed them ineligible. This, in effect, mandated affirmative action lending with the supposed good intention of home ownership for all, regardless of ability to pay. Two government sponsored entities, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also had a significant role in the collapse of the economy by guaranteeing loans to people whose income was below the median in their area, at the direction of the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

So, no, the fear is not that the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau "will be effective." The fear is of the unintended consequences of another bureaucracy created by a Harvard University professor with no real experience in the business world or with the complex financial instruments she may oversee. Warren is regarded by many to be a leftist with an aversion to free market principles.

Outrageously, she has been appointed to create this new bureau without the consent of Congress. It is not obvious at all that more government interference with private business would "make another such crisis less likely."

Margaret Read Federico, Massapequa