Hey Fannie and Freddie, Pay Us Back!
WHO says Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on anything? When it comes to fixing the government’s troubled and costly relationship with the private mortgage market, bipartisanship is very much alive. Politicians in both parties have reached consensus over the past four years to simply do nothing.
Consider the elephant in the room: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac owe American taxpayers nearly $140 billion — and there seems to be no plan on any front to pay it back.
Though many Americans aren’t aware of it, the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) are publicly traded companies — like I.B.M. or General Electric. Except these two giant housing lenders were created by Congress and, as a result, have a relationship, albeit an awkward one, with Uncle Sam. As so-called government-sponsored enterprises, or G.S.E.’s, they have long played an important role in the development of the nation, helping to channel credit to millions of Americans who might otherwise not be able to get home mortgages.
Rest here…
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Which taxpayers need to pay back which taxpayers Josh? The ones foreclosing on the other ones? Ask most taxpayers, they basically want to keep people in their homes. The housing propagandists want diversion and propaganda. Most taxpayers wanted TBTF to be held to account. Most taxpayers are so disgusted with reporting and the continual blast of misinformation designed to mitigate powerful interests they are sick of it. The FHFA’s refusal to consider principle reductions on liars loans is akin to arguing for slavery on a moral basis as was done some in the 19th century.
Josh also provides a nice, generally misleading, incomplete revision of what caused the financial crisis, frequently used as a defense of the Banksters: “Then, in mid-decade, the Clinton administration embarked on a plan to expand homeownership rates by easing lending standards” Is that all? The people who set policy (banksters, their regulators, et al) knew what was happening, all of ’em, this is no conspiracy.