Here we go again. The administration is playing into the hands of the GOP who wants to dismantle Freddie and Fannie so another company can cash in. Reforming those institutions is fine but moves like this help the GOP ignore the reality that Freddie and Fannie did not cause the recession. Contributed sure, but they were not at the center of the crisis. It was a recession caused by the banks. Can we not stop pretending as though Wall Street didn't do this?
The Obama administration’s much-anticipated report on redesigning the government’s role in housing finance, published Friday, is not solely a proposal to dissolve the unpopular finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.There doesn't seem to be a subject where Obama isn't trying to be GOP-Lite, including now the budget. Now they're repeating the Republican talking points about the federal budget being just like a family budget. Um, no, it's not. Temporarily increasing the deficit for the stimulus was the right thing to do to help keep the economy drop dropping even harder. It also helped to keep income tax revenues coming in which is a lot more critical than small budget cuts. A family budget doesn't work that way. Much like Obama's plan to slash heating oil assistance for the poor, it's more and more difficult to understand where this administration is going, besides a hard turn to the right.
It is also a more audacious call for the federal government to cut back its broadly popular, long-running campaign to help Americans own homes. The three ideas that the report outlines for replacing Fannie and Freddie all would raise the cost of mortgage loans and push homeownership beyond the reach of some families.
That fact is already generating opposition in Congress and among groups like community banks and consumer advocates.
