Short-bus journalism (Part IV)

Clinton, touting his autobiography and his achievements, on 60 Minutes, 21 June 2004:

“The fact that we were able to have 22 million jobs, and record home ownership, and lower interest rates of the people actually had the ability to do more things than ever before,” says Mr. Clinton.

Reuters, groping for any blunt instrument with which to bash GW Bush, 23 June 2004:

A rise in U.S. urban minority homeownership has been accompanied by an even greater surge in the number of people straining to pay for their homes, the Fannie Mae Foundation said on Wednesday.

"Hundreds of thousands of urban minorities are struggling to sustain homeownership," the study said.

Homeowners stretching to pay for their homes are at greater risk of foreclosure and of spoiling their chances of borrowing in the future, according to the study, "A Tale of Two Cities: Growing Affordability Problems Amidst Rising Homeownership for Urban Minorities."

The study, by Fannie Mae Foundation researcher Patrick Simmons, comes as Democrats criticize Bush administration housing policies, saying they have emphasized homeownership gains while letting rental subsidy programs wither. Administration officials cite minority homeownership gains over the past four years as a central accomplishment of recent housing policies.

It would be impossible to make this stuff up and be believed. Impossible.