Another New Year for Fannie and Freddie

As the New Year comes Americans will be greeted with a major change in their congressional representation. Conservatives fought hard for two years to convince independents that they should stand together and cast out the liberal-progressives in Congress. It worked, and now conservatives must stay true to their promises to independents.

When I see news like the recent rumblings from the GOP that it doesn’t want to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as much as they told Americans they did during the election season, it disturbs me. It disturbs me because I know that like other conservative-independents I’m feeling used by the GOP.

During campaign season Republicans called for reform of Fannie and Freddie to be put into the Dodd-Frank financial “reform,” bill. That didn’t happen, but if reform of Fannie and Freddie was ready then, why not now?

This is about principles. Republicans are now saying they don’t want to pull the rug from under Fannie and Freddie because it might hurt the housing market. This is a load of bull, to be clear. Fannie and Freddie reform would not end Fannie and Freddie immediately. Debating and passing a bill in Congress would necessarily include a phase out period for the two mortgage behemoths.

There are dozens of committees and subcommittees, each with its own mandate. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, the incoming chair of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Finance Committee would be in charge of any reform for Fannie and Freddie. For the New Year, his resolution should be to grow a backbone and get these monkeys off Uncle Sam’s back. The GOP should make 2011 the last New Year for a government sponsored Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.