FHFA Should Not Give GSEs New Lease on Life
Mel Watt, President Obama’s new Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) director, has broken his silence and has left no doubt that he will break with his predecessor’s policy of shrinking...
View ArticleThe Best Housing Program in America in 15 Seconds
Get government out of the housing market – that’s the message Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, has for the housing industry. According to Hensarling, government intervention in the housing market is not a...
View ArticleNew Fannie Bond Issue Elevates Need for Higher G-Fees
Newscom As Congress contemplates legislation to end Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government agency running their operations is trying to make that task easier. However, the Federal Housing Finance...
View ArticleTax Revenue Rose Five Times Faster Than Spending Fell in 2013
Glow Images/Newscom The monthly Treasury statement of the actual budget figures for 2013 this week shows tax revenue rising five times faster than spending fell in 2013. Taxes revenue climbed by 13.2...
View ArticleGSE Reform: Housing Finance Experts on the Future of Fannie and Freddie
Nearly five years after one of the largest federal government bailouts in American history and the enactment of a colossal federal regulatory law (Dodd–Frank), policy leaders still wrestle with the...
View ArticleThe Volcker Rule: Three Years and Nearly 1,000 Pages Later
Former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Paul Volcker (Fang Zhe/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom) Five financial regulatory agencies have completed the final rules to implement the Volcker Rule, a regulation required by...
View ArticleRevisionist History: Absolving Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
A newly released book, The Mortgage Wars, aims to rewrite history and absolve Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of having any part in the financial crisis. Written by former Fannie Mae Vice Chairman and CFO...
View ArticleWill the Federal Housing Finance Agency Forgive Borrowers’ Debts?
Newscom Today Representative Mel Watt (D–NC) assumes his position as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which manages the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and...
View ArticleGSE Reform: FHFA Move to Crowd Out Private Mortgage Capital
Newscom Newly appointed Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Mel Watt is delaying the scheduled increases of the guarantee fee that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge mortgage lenders. This...
View ArticleCongress Is Right to Keep the Housing Trust Funds Closed
Affordable housing groups are hoping that new Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) director Mel Watt will reverse course and finally fill two national housing trust funds with money. But, in a...
View ArticleGSE Reform: Fannie and Freddie Revenue Distracting from Housing Finance Reform
Newscom Despite what a growing number of voices are postulating, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have not returned to profitability. The two former government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) are generating...
View ArticleGSE Reform: Eliminate Fannie and Freddie, but Don’t Replace Them
The President’s State of the Union address overshadowed some very important news relating to housing finance reform. Last Wednesday, Senators Bob Corker (R–TN) and Mark Warner (D–VA) promised to renew...
View ArticleHow to Free the Housing Market from Government—and Lower Your Mortgage Payments
President Obama said something truly great in his State of the Union Address this year. He told Congress: [S]ince the most important investment many families make is their home, send me legislation...
View ArticlePawlenty Joins the Fight to End Fannie and Freddie
Two Financial Services Roundtable executives, former Governor Tim Pawlenty (R–MN) and former Navy Secretary John Dalton, have penned an article that highlights the key points in the housing finance...
View ArticleCongress to Mega Banks: It Was All Your Fault—Pay No Attention to the GSEs
Last week, Chairman Dave Camp (R–MI) outlined a new reform proposal that included a punitive tax on some of the largest banks in the U.S. The Chairman should be commended for tackling the complex issue...
View ArticleRevenue from GSEs Continuing to Distract from Housing Finance Reform
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae—the two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)—are back in the news again, this time because they appear to be helping taxpayers by reducing the deficit. The latest reports...
View ArticleFocus on Eliminating Housing GSEs, Not Giving Them a Duty to Serve
As Congress continues to delay shutting down the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, affordable housing advocates are ramping up the pressure on the federal government...
View ArticleHAMP: Focusing on Mortgage Relief Programs Misses the Big Picture
The Washington Post has an article detailing the ups and downs of the Obama Administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). Heritage previously pointed out several flaws with HAMP, and...
View ArticleSenate Plan to Replace Fannie, Freddie Faces Skepticism from House Critic
Count him wary: Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas). Photo: Bill Clark/Roll Call The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee said he is skeptical of a forthcoming Senate proposal that would...
View ArticleHeritage Agrees With Schumer on Housing Finance Reform
Newscom Washington DC is abuzz now that Senators Tim Johnson (D–S.D.) and Mike Crapo (R–Idaho) have completed a bill to finally eliminate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But Senator Chuck Schumer’s...
View ArticleHow to Hide Billions in Taxpayer Money and Get Away With It
Spine-tingling TV shows and movies are always featuring spy capers that are “off-book.” Their existence is on a need-to-know basis, and sure, they’re being funded, but no one sees where that money’s...
View ArticleHow to Avoid Another Housing Crisis
What’s one thing Congress could do to help the economy and American homeowners? Check out our infographic. Read the Morning Bell and more en español every day at Heritage Libertad. Quick Hits: White...
View ArticleThe Four Key Things Every Taxpayer Needs to Know About Fannie and Freddie
Photo credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images Five years ago, Congress used nearly $200 billion to bail out the housing finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These companies are still operating under...
View ArticleOne Problem We Still Haven’t Fixed
You may not have heard much about the housing market lately…but that isn’t because it’s safe. Leaders in Washington were in denial about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s finances before the last housing...
View ArticleJohnson–Crapo Housing Finance Reform Misguided
Senators Tim Johnson (D–SD) and Mike Crapo (R–ID) recently released their new housing finance reform bill. As expected, the new bill makes the bad features of its Senate companion even worse....
View ArticleHow to Avoid Another Housing Crisis, Explained in Under a Minute
Should the government have a role in the housing market? Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac cost taxpayers billions of dollars, even in good economic times, write Heritage’s Norbert Michel and John Ligon. When...
View ArticleHousing Finance: Fannie–Freddie 2.0
Josh Rosner, who in Reckless Endangerment (2011) exposed the cronyism of Fannie Mae and warned of a meltdown of the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) as far back as 2001, recognizes that the...
View ArticleCBO Report Estimates 2014 Deficit at Half a Trillion Dollars: Why The Real...
Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images Today the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its updated projections for the 2014 federal budget. CBO reports the 2014 deficit at $492 billion, just shy of a...
View ArticleFannie-Freddie 2.0: Government Housing Polices Shouldn’t Get a Free Pass
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Shaun Donovan lamented statistics from a Pew report showing Hispanics lost 66 percent of their net worth between 2005 and 2009. He went on to say: Think...
View ArticleCaution: Senators at Work
Obamacare is wreaking havoc on the economy; entitlement spending is swallowing the federal budget; America’s military readiness is in shambles; and a handful of senators are working hard to make sure...
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