http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/freddiemac/ en-us Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:05:50 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2386223/posts Over at the Wall Street Journal, there's a very interesting article that connects the dots between ACORN, the mortgage-lending-standard-destroying Community Reinvestment Act legislation, Fannie Mae and the eventual inflation and collapse of the housing bubble in last decade: As Allen Fishbein, currently an adviser for consumer policy at the Federal Reserve, has noted, Acorn and other community groups were informally deputized by then House Banking Chairman Henry Gonzalez to draft statutory language setting the law's affordable-housing mandates. Interim goals were set at 30% of the single-family mortgages purchased by Fannie and Freddie, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development... Washington Examiner http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2386223/posts#comment Sat, 14 Nov 2009 12:05:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2384197/posts "I do think I do not want the same kind of focus on safety and soundness that we have in OCC [Office of the Comptroller of the Currency] and OTS [Office of Thrift Supervision]. I want to roll the dice a little bit more in this situation towards subsidized housing." —Representative Barney Frank, September 25, 2003 It was six years ago that Mr. Frank announced his famous dice roll on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the name of affordable housing. Mr. Frank got his wish, and the losses keep rolling in, with no end in sight as Washington finds... The Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2384197/posts#comment Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:30:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2382074/posts Fannie Mae has announced that it is going to become a landlord. To avoid foreclosing, Fannie will allow some homeowners to rent. It’s another gamble with our money. Just 6 years ago, Barney Frank said this about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: We see entities that are fundamentally sound financially and withstand some of the disastrous scenarios. And even if there were a problem, the Federal Government doesn't bail them out. Oops, this year Congress bailed them out with 100 billion of your tax dollars. And congress has promised Fannie and Freddie ... another $300 billion in guarantees. Will the... fbn http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2382074/posts#comment Mon, 9 Nov 2009 14:41:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380581/posts Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE - News; NYSE:FRE - News), the second largest provider of U.S. residential mortgage funding, on Friday posted a loss of $5 billion in the third quarter and predicted it would need more government support amid a "prolonged deterioration" in housing. Increases in the value of securities Freddie Mac held over the period helped buoy its net worth, however, erasing its need to tap government funds for a second straight quarter to stay solvent while continuing to buy and guarantee home loans. Including a $1.3 billion dividend payment on senior preferred stock bought by the Treasury in previous... al Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380581/posts#comment Sat, 7 Nov 2009 03:04:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380498/posts Democrats' Ethics Targeted by GOP By BRODY MULLINS Republicans are seizing on newly revealed ethics probes of congressional Democrats ahead of next year's midterm elections, accusing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her colleagues of failing to make good on their pledge to clean up Washington when they regained control of Congress. None of the Democratic lawmakers under investigation by the House Ethics Committee is expected to lose in 2010. And ethics concerns are usually less important to voters than pocketbook issues. But Republican campaign strategists say ethics issues rumbling under the surface could help the GOP pick up a few... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2380498/posts#comment Sat, 7 Nov 2009 01:03:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2372230/posts Height of Chutzpah http://www.wiseandfrugalgovernment.blogspot.com/ On October 3rd, Business Week published an Associated Press article on the compensation package for the new Freddie Mac Chief Financial Officer, Ross Kari. Mr. Kari was presented with a package "worth as much as $5.5 million. That includes an almost $2 million cash signing bonus and a generous salary that could top $2.3 million" according to the AP (link below). The article goes on to explain that the generous pay package was established to be competitive with the other financial sector jobs presumably available to Mr. Kari. You remember, Freddie Mac surely. The government-controlled mortgage... Constitutional Guardian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2372230/posts#comment Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:42:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2370581/posts Yes, he’s doing the job of dictating to companies which took government (read: taxpayers’) money exactly how much they are allowed to compensate their top execs. And next he’s going to look at the paychecks of the smaller fellows, too. Before he does that, however, perhaps he should take a look at the compensation package received by the new CFO of Freddie Mac, Ross Kari. Grand Rants http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2370581/posts#comment Sun, 25 Oct 2009 17:57:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2365921/posts A new analysis of loss-ridden mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac tries to nail shut the coffin on their common stocks. In a report, financial services research specialist Keefe Bruyette & Woods says the companies’ shares would have zero value under the workout scenario the firm believes is most likely: the creation of new Fannie and Freddie entities as mortgage guarantors owned by the banks that use their services, while the government continues to support the old Fannie and Freddie loan portfolios as they wind down. Keefe may not be telling speculators in Fannie and Freddie shares anything they... Los Angeles Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2365921/posts#comment Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:39:07 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2357985/posts Housing Mess: A huge, government-run housing agency shows massive losses and needs a bailout. Fannie Mae? Freddie Mac? No. It's the Federal Housing Administration, in a bad case of financial-meltdown deja vu. The FHA, which insures mortgages made by first-time buyers with low down payments, says it may need a bailout because it will have losses of — get this — $54 billion. And how did it lose all that? By backing home loans made to people who couldn't pay them off. Where have we heard this before? At a time when we talk routinely of trillion dollar deficits, $54... IBD Editorials http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2357985/posts#comment Fri, 9 Oct 2009 00:34:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2204090/posts Politics: Democrats say Rush Limbaugh is running the Republican Party. Better Rush than George Soros, who is running the Democrats. At least Rush believes in freedom, capitalism and letting you keep what you earn. The cover of the March 7 issue of Newsweek shows a picture of conservative icon Limbaugh with a piece of tape covering his mouth and the word "Enough!" So much for disagreeing with what you say but defending to the death your right to say it. Voltaire could never be a contributor to Newsweek Investor's Business Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2204090/posts#comment Wed, 11 Mar 2009 12:17:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2359528/posts From 2002 to 2007, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loaded up on $1.73 trillion of subprime and $1.44 trillion of Alt-A loans and securities, taking a lion's share of these markets, according to mortgage market guru Ed Pinto. The agencies' share of loans and securities, then, was higher than the total for all private label mortgage-backed securities market held outside the agencies' purchases -- contrary to widely held views in the mortgage markets. The two agencies hid the level of risky lending and investment in securities by failing to classify the loans initially as subprime or Alt-A. Mind Over Market http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2359528/posts#comment Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:35:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2357225/posts In the Medieval era -- when the periodic table of the elements was comprised of only Fire, Earth, Air, and Water -- alchemists posited the existence of a fifth magical substance, Quintessence, which when mixed in combinations of the other four would create every other form of matter. They searched in vain for this ethereal substance in their pursuit of a means of changing base metals into gold. Their quest went unrealized, but this magical quintessence was subsequently discovered five centuries later by the new alchemists: mortgage bankers and investors. They found a way to turn worthless mortgages into hordes... Human Events http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2357225/posts#comment Thu, 8 Oct 2009 01:45:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2354064/posts Here is video of Karl Rove absolutely schooling Juan Williams (sitting in for Bill O'Reilly) when Williams made the mistake tonight of accusing President Bush and his administration of "doing nothing" to reign in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to avoid a Housing Meltdown. That's all it took. Rove proceeded to lay out the facts that the Bush Administration tried to get legislation to regulate the mortgage lenders, but were blocked by Democrats, including then Senator Barack Obama. freeedon lighthouse http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2354064/posts#comment Sat, 3 Oct 2009 13:07:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2346841/posts In an alleged effort to protect against a recurrence of the financial collapse of 2008, Congress is considering a slew of new mandates, regulations and agencies. At the top of the list is an expansion of the very government mandate that is at the heart of the financial collapse, the Community Reinvestment Act. It appears that rather than learning from mistakes of the past, Congress is taking steps that could exacerbate the problems in the future. The CRA has been credited by many experts as a key contributor to the financial meltdown of 2008. Originally introduced in 1977, it was... IBD Editorials http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2346841/posts#comment Thu, 24 Sep 2009 00:20:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2343177/posts DALLAS - When Congress passed an $8,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers last winter, it was intended as a dose of shock therapy during a crisis. Now the question is becoming whether the housing market can function without it. As many as 40 percent of all home buyers this year will qualify for the credit. It is on track to cost the government $15 billion, more than twice the amount that was projected when Congress passed the stimulus bill in February. In the view of the real estate industry and some economists, all that money is well spent. They... The New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2343177/posts#comment Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:07:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2173127/posts Stimulus: The group that pushed banks into the risky loans that brought the economy down is now eligible for a huge chunk of stimulus cash. The stimulus plan does create jobs — for community activists.As in any agreement, contract or piece of legislation, the devil is in the details. So it is with the stimulus package percolating in Congress. Analysts are beginning to figure out that only a small percentage of the money will actually trickle down into the economy in the first two years, not enough to do much stimulating. Yet in this package is a $4 billion pot... IBD Editorials http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2173127/posts#comment Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:01:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2331029/posts It's careful, it's complicated, it's got a catchy name, and it's first. At face value, that's what I see in the Mortgage Bankers Association's proposal to formulate a new, government-guaranteed, mortgage backed securities market to take the place of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.Let's start at the very beginning, with the MBA press release: The centerpiece of MBA’s recommendation is the creation of a new line of mortgage-backed securities (MBS). Each security would have two components – a loan level guarantee provided by privately-owned, government-chartered and regulated mortgage credit-guarantor entity (MCGE) and a security-level, federal government-guaranteed wrap.America, meet the MCGE,... CNBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2331029/posts#comment Thu, 3 Sep 2009 06:42:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2321159/posts In the late 1970s, as the federal government arranged to bail out Chrysler, not-yet-famous economist Alan Greenspan warned the problem “was not that it would fail, but that it would succeed.” And it did, thus paving the way for more bailouts, including (again) Chrysler. But the first Chrysler bailout was just one company, one time. The rolling series of financial bailouts over the past year -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, AIG and Citibank, General Motors and Chrysler, etc. -- have not yet succeeded or failed. But they’ve raised a new moral hazard. These days, having invested so much in... Townhall.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2321159/posts#comment Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:49:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2203853/posts Politics: Democrats say Rush Limbaugh is running the Republican Party. Better Rush than George Soros, who is running the Democrats. At least Rush believes in freedom, capitalism and letting you keep what you earn.The cover of the March 7 issue of Newsweek shows a picture of conservative icon Limbaugh with a piece of tape covering his mouth and the word "Enough!" So much for disagreeing with what you say but defending to the death your right to say it. Voltaire could never be a contributor to Newsweek. But David Frum is, and his inside cover story, "Why Rush Is Wrong,"... IBD Editorials http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2203853/posts#comment Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:17:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2311419/posts In a series of articles published from 1902-1904, Ida Tarbell attacked Standard Oil, the leading US supplier of kerosene lamp fuel. The centerpiece of Ms. Tarbell's criticism was that the company had engaged in predatory pricing by continually lowering its prices. Her readers must have asked themselves, "How is that a bad thing? Am I supposed to be outraged that the amount I pay for lamp oil has fallen?" Although company cofounder John Rockefeller had retired from actively managing Standard Oil in 1896, Ms. Tarbell vilified him in her articles, even criticizing his elderly appearance. Populist US president Theodore Roosevelt... American Thinker http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2311419/posts#comment Sat, 8 Aug 2009 16:50:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2304055/posts Corruption: Chris Dodd's teetering re-election chances weren't helped by news that the senator may have lied about not knowing he got preferential treatment as one of Countrywide Financial's Friends of Angelo program.Can you foreclose on a house of cards? Dodd, D-Conn., may soon find out after the official who handled his mortgages testified before both the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee and the Senate Ethics Committee that Dodd did in fact know he got sweetheart deals from a company that went on to lose billions of dollars on home loans to credit-strapped borrowers. As the No. 1 recipient of... IBD Editorials http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2304055/posts#comment Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:38:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2299194/posts The first big government bailout of the financial crisis -- the takeover of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- is poised to be the most expensive and complicated to complete. Since Congress essentially wrote a blank check to the Treasury Department in July 2008 to do what needed to be done to inject capital into the two firms, Fannie (FNM, Fortune 500) has received $34.2 billion of direct government support while Freddie (FRE, Fortune 500) has received $51.7 billion. While that's lower than the $117.5 billion poured into insurer AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) by the Federal Reserve... CNN.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2299194/posts#comment Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:05:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2290881/posts Freddie Mac announced Wednesday that it would offer loan-to-value ratios on home mortgage refinancings of up to 125 percent for qualified borrowers. Fannie Mae also announced a similar change. The moves come as the Obama administration raised the maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratio from 105 percent. As a result of this change, qualified borrowers will be able to obtain McLean-based Freddie Mac’s (NYSE:FRE) Relief Refinance Mortgages with loan amounts up to 125 percent of the current value of their property. The higher LTV ratio is expected to give homeowners – especially those in markets that have experienced sharp declines in home... Washington Business Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2290881/posts#comment Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:44:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2288713/posts Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were the chief culprits in the housing crisis because they encouraged people who could not afford payments to borrow money, according to a congressional report released Tuesday. The claims in the report have long been advanced by conservatives, who argue that the Community Reinvestment Act and other federal programs fed the housing bubble that burst in 2007 and led to the economic downfall in 2008. But the report explains in detail how Fannie and Freddie -- government sponsored enterprises (GSE) that were not subject to the same oversight as other publicly traded firms -- “privatized... CNS News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2288713/posts#comment Thu, 9 Jul 2009 10:00:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2288051/posts Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were the chief culprits in the housing crisis because they encouraged people who could not afford payments to borrow money, according to a congressional report released Tuesday. CNSNews.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2288051/posts#comment Wed, 8 Jul 2009 15:10:24 GMT