Thursday, January 27, 2011

Fannie, Freddie should be taken apart person by person

From the department of "Why hasn't this happened yet?" Utah Republican Jason Chaffetz is calling for greater transparency at failed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by offering legislation requiring them to be subject to the Freedom of Information Act when under government control. From a release:
“The American people have a right to know what activities their taxpayer dollars are bailing out,” said Chaffetz. “Fannie and Freddie were chartered by the federal government. They’re currently managed by board members chosen by the federal government. And the federal government has sunk at least $145 billion into Fannie and Freddie, with hundreds of billions more in potential liability. FOIA makes possible a level of transparency and accountability in federal agencies that is desperately needed here.”
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa stated, "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are being run by the federal government to achieve objectives set by the federal government. As long as this continues, it's a matter of common sense that they should be subject to Freedom of Information Act requests."

The move comes after Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, discovered that taxpayers were actually paying for the millions of dollars of legal fees of former Fannie and Freddie executives charged with crimes associated with their work.

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