Fannie, Freddie Bailout Could Cost Taxpayers $25 Billion

New York Times:

WASHINGTON -- The proposed government rescue of the nation's two mortgage finance giants will appear on the federal budget as a $25 billion cost to taxpayers, the independent Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday even though officials conceded that there was no way of really knowing what, if anything, a bailout would cost.

The budget office said there was a better than even chance that the rescue package would not be needed before the end of 2009 and would not cost taxpayers any money. But the office also estimated a 5 percent chance that the mortgage companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, could lose $100 billion, which would cost taxpayers far more than $25 billion.

Read the full story here

-OR-

Read about Secretary Paulson trying to sell the rescue to the general public

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[Zoolie]

Start with taking away the huge salaries and bonuses the top guy have been getting. They caused a lot of this mess.

[holeybuybull]

Zoolie do you realize what you're proposing? Why do you hate the "free market capitalistic system'? You must be some sort of "pinko". You do realize that the ceo of freddy only made $20 million last year. Maybe we should take up a collection for this poor, poor man.

[Okieborn]

Henry Paulson is just another Bush "YES MAN" !!
The only cure to Americas woes is to get rid of these crooks come January when Sen. Obama takes over with some sane guidance !!
I am hoping Paulson and the rest of the Bush monarchy spend a little time at the cross bar motel !!!

[javagirl322]

Here we go again.... the savings and loan debacle under Bush, Sr. and now this .... under GWB.

[fcsakes]

The way conservatives are always breaking their a** to bail out big business and charge it to the taxpayer, makes one wonder just why they make so much noise when someone wants to raise taxes to pay for legitimate expenditures like schools, healthcare, medicare, the homeless, etc. What exactly is it conservatives are conserving?

[All57States]

Last Friday, Obama promised $4 billion for the automakers. Is that the kind of big business bail out you were talking about?

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008807190352

[Deni]

Their portfolios and the portfolios of their friends. The rest of us can go...well, wherever.

[torrrep]

That's funny. They way I see it it was liberals who forced these banks to make loans to those who were not qualified to receive them. Try doing a little research and quit blaming conservatives for problems created by liberals.

[helonias]

So who all is going to jail for this and for how long?

[fcsakes]

That's easy. Nobody and never.

[pfc1369]

You can't put these great capitalist scammers in the hoosegal!

Haven't you heard? They're the great risk takers, the great responsibility takers. The great job creators.

They are the heroes of our time.

Or are you one of those always looking for a government handout?

[dolphy]

Yeah, right. Iraq was to cost 20B? How much is it now? These people have about 5 trillion in their portfolio. If 2% of it is bad, that's 100B. So, people, just hope it's 2% and not 10%.

[Gatormouth]

A bailout would just be Corporate Socialism, nothing less than taxing the people to subsidize their failure.. Nationalise the Federal Banking system. It would be better and cheaper for the country for the government to take advantage of this opportunity to buy them out- not bail them out.

[Gatormouth]

To Continue: I am so fed up with this deregulation snake oil crap. We have failed with it time after time and it only fuels more corporate greed! Enough - take our country back - now!

[torrrep]

Sure. Let's buy them out. Democrats were the ones that forced these banks to loan to those who were not credit worthy. Democrats were the ones who forced quotas on the lenders. Democratys were the ones that forced lenders to offer business loans to those who had no idea how to run a business. Democrats were the ones who instituted the subprime loans. But let's buy them out because I'm sure Democrats have more wonderful ideas on how to save the housing market

[Gatormouth]

Very good. Nationalization of the banking system will contribute to welfare of the entire country. Glad to have you on board., for whatever reasons you may have.

[dbg2]

Sure proves the old saying is true if you want to rob a bank you should own it, or at least run it.

The new twist is they want us all to add more money so they can rob it on a regular basis, these pesky CEO's there all about keeping things growing.

Seriously call or write your senator and congressman today and tell them to vote against the bailout.

Better yet how about we hit the streets

[SmootyBooty]

First-the estimates of the cost of the bailout are off by at least 200%, and second-What bailout? The prez says it ain't so!

[going2ireland]

Will taxpayers stand by and say nothing if I can get the Gov't to bail me out (should I ever need it)?

Cause, hey, if I knew that they gov't would bail me out, I would do the same thing the big companies do - I would go on a spending spree like no one has ever done before!!

[Raster]

$25 billion won't even pay for administrative paperwork. Try $6 TRILLION for a complete takeover of both Fannie and Freddie. But they better not continue to drag their feet and avoid biting the bullet. Further delay will only cause increasing collateral damage to the US financial system.

[masha2008]

socialism is better than a capitalist country that spends billions of dollars to bail out corporations and investors. that money could have gone to education and healthcare.

[nevergiveup]

You've got that right! The GOP embraced deregulation and We the People get to pick up the tab run up by corrupted corporations and GREED. The GOP appears to be trying to bankrupt the country, morally and financially--and they've done a damn good job so far.

[JoeBlough]

What's more, the bail out is paid with borrowed money.

[GeoLee]

But we don't want them educated...where would we get the next generation of military men and women if they were? We just want them easy to brainwash.

[ghostsofamerica]

JUST LIKE THE BUSH SAVINGS AND LOAN THEFT OF THE NATIONAL TREASURY.

[FredOCal]

Here is a great write-up on the Fannie/Freddie situation. And ProfessorDuh is absolutely correct; this bailout will break us:
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/2008/07/12.html

[Deni]

Dubya's goal all along. Break the government.

[DrVeruju]

Deni, they also want to continue enriching themselves at taxpayers' expense

From a recent post of www.worldreports.org (15 July 2008)

"The object of the cynical 'Paulson'-Bernanke 'play' with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is to procure an EXPLICIT Federal guarantee for these corrupted Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs), which would encumber the entire 'real' US dollar base"

[dbg2]

Great article FredOCal http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/2008/07/12.html

Everyone should read it

I get the greedy felonious brokers and bankers encouraged by Bushes corrupt government, but what I still don't get is who the F*%$ bought these crapy packaged loans. Which funds, which pensions, what foreign investors. How could they be so stupid...... or did Moodys and friends lie about their value. Smells like fraud to me. Civil and criminal charges on the way?

To the streets. Leave your steel and lead at home but keep it handy.

[aristippe]

That's nothing compared to iraq