The Administration has been hiding the true cost of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the American taxpayers, while also using these off-the-books institutions to funnel money into special loan modification programs that are also unaccounted for in the federal budget. Republicans have tirelessly called for transparency from the Obama administration, and yet their calls have gone unanswered.
To rectify this matter, Rep. Scott Garrett has introduced the Accounting of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Act in order to compel the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to prepare President Obamas budget to accurately reflect the losses sustained by these Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) since they were placed in conservatorship.
FANNIE AND FREDDIE ON BUDGET TALKING POINTS
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are a Disaster for Taxpayers. Fannie and Freddies blank check from the Treasury department poses a huge risk to the American taxpayer as they are essentially allowed an endless bailout. Initially, Congress put a $200 billion limit on federal assistance for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Then last year, the Treasury raised the potential commitment to $400 billion, and then on Christmas Eve 2009, Treasury removed the cap altogether, making federal assistance virtually unlimited for the next three years. This risk, however, is not reflected anywhere in the Presidents budget.
We Must Achieve Consistency in the Governments Deficit Assessment. This legislation will compel the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to accurately reflect the losses sustained by these Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) since they were placed in conservatorship. The losses at the GSEs would have to be accounted for in the same way that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) calculates their losses.
New Classifications = New Rules. Now that they have been placed in conservatorship, the distinction between Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac being government sponsored, rather than government operated, has been eliminated. Now it is appropriate to include their financial transactions alongside all other federal activities in the budget.
Fannie and Freddies Debt Should Be Subject to the Debt Ceiling. The federal government now explicitly backs the operations of the GSEs. As a result, there should no longer be a distinction between their debt used to purchase mortgages in their portfolio, and the debt issued by the Department of the Treasury. As such, their current $1.6 trillion in outstanding debt should be reflected in the statutory public debt ceiling. To allow time for Congressional and Administrative action to either raise the debt ceiling or place the GSEs in receivership, the legislation delays the effective date by 90 days.
FANNIE AND FREDDIE NUMBERS
$291 billion: added to federal deficit in 2009 to support Fannie and Freddie according to CBO
$389 billion: estimated cost of Fannie and Freddie to the taxpayers over 10 years according to CBO
$1.5 trillion: size of Fannie and Freddies retained mortgage portfolios
$1.6 trillion: debt issued by Fannie and Freddie now explicitly backed by the taxpayer
$8.1 trillion: Fannie and Freddie securities outstanding according to data released by the Federal Reserve on December 10, 2009 (Neither CBO nor OMB incorporates debt securities or mortgage-backed securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in estimates of federal debt held by the public.)
UNLIMITED: Taxpayer assistance available to Fannie and Freddie through 2012
Loading...
6:26
Scott Garrett Responds to Pelosi's Attacksby repscottgarrett318 views
tHIS bOOZER CAN'T ADD,,,$291,BILLION + $ 389 bILLION == 580 BILLION NOT TRILLION ,,,
I WONDER HOW MUCH SUPER GLUE DOES THAT DIPSH*T US TO GET THAT SICKENING SMILE??
RasputinSir 1 year ago
Fucking idiot! Beck is poison!
futurestoryteller 1 year ago
Wait, so Beck even admits that this is a Bush thing, and then tries to blame the whole thing on Obama? and Beck is the "voice of reason?" are people that follow him clinically insane or just retards?
kikusfears 1 year ago
@Vainqueur2008 Who would you RATHER be praised by? King Shit
Obama? LOL!
Weasler455 1 year ago
something to be proud of? praised by beck? lol
Vainqueur2008 1 year ago