The Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act
On Friday, December 9, 2011, Representative Dave Camp (R-MI), with several cosponsors, introduced H.R. 3630, the “Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2011.” The 369-page bill consists of...
View ArticleSEC Charges Reinforce Case for Eliminating Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
The misguided federal policy to concentrate the U.S. mortgage finance industry in two huge government-sponsored entities was underscored again this morning when the Securities and Exchange Commission...
View ArticleState of the Housing Market: New Refinancing Promises?
During his State of the Union speech, President Obama introduced a new plan to save responsible homeowner $3,000 a year on their mortgages by refinancing at historically low interest rates. Americans...
View ArticleDeMarco Warns of the Dangers of Large-Scale Forgiving of Mortgage Debt
To hear certain parts of the press tell it, the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), Ed DeMarco, announced that the agency is willing to consider wholesale write-downs of...
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Morning Bell: What if Fannie and Freddie Were Eliminated?
For the past several years, it’s not been an uncommon sight in Anytown, USA, to drive down the street and see home after home for sale after going through foreclosure. They are the still-lingering...
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Congressman: Export-Import Bank Is a Case of Corporate Welfare
House leaders have reportedly struck a deal to vote on reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank next week despite strident opposition from conservatives. Heritage’s Bryan Riley has called it the...
View ArticleIMF: Fannie and Freddie Threaten U.S. Fiscal Health
Followers of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have long joked that the fund’s acronym stands for “It’s Mostly Fiscal.” For a long time it has helped bail out basket-case economies with severe...
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A Housing Finance Market Without Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
What would the potential impact on the economy be if Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac—the housing finance government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)—were eliminated? Our research indicates that winding down...
View ArticleTaxpayer-Funded Infrastructure Bank: The “Investment” Isn’t Worth It
Bad ideas never seem to die. But the proposal to create a national infrastructure bank to federally fund transportation and infrastructure projects with taxpayer dollars is one such idea that President...
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Another Subprime Idea from Obama
Newscom The Obama Administration is reportedly pushing banks to increase mortgage lending to people with relatively weak credit in hopes of boosting home sales. But the very same policy under...
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Housing Finance Nominee: Expect Big Government Housing Policies Doomed to Fail
Polaris/Newscom President Obama nominated Representative Mel Watt (D–NC) as new chief regulator to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), replacing the current acting director Edward DeMarco. Watt...
View ArticleU.S. Mortgage Market Reform: Corker–Warner Bill Misguided
Draft legislation by Senators Bob Corker (R–TN) and Mark Warner (D–VA) would wind down federally sponsored housing finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but it suffers from many of the same...
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Obama: End Fannie and Freddie, but Keep Government in Housing Business
Camilla Zenz/Zuma Press/Newscom President Obama lent his voice today to the growing consensus in Washington that federally sponsored housing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must go. While this is a...
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Lowering Loan Limits: An Overdue Step to Bringing Private Capital Back to...
Camilla Zenz/Zuma Press/Newscom As legislation moves through Congress to address the fate of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has indicated it will decrease the...
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New 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...
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Tax 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...
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The 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...
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Will 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...
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