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Editorial | November 20, 2013 It has been five years since Lehman Brothers collapsed and longer since the US subprime bubble burst. Yet plans to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – the government-sponsored behemoths that underwrite the US housing market – are little nearer to completion. Both Republicans and the Obama administration agree on the need to wind these entities down. Just not quite yet. Now a group of activist investors are agitating Washington to privatise their key mortgage insurance functions. Last week they raised their equity stakes in the two enterprises. Their business plan... Read More »

The House is in session Monday through Thursday this week. Be sure to check back here on the Bottom Line Blog -- and sign up for our email updates -- for committee specific information as the week progresses. Here's what's happening: On Tuesday morning at 10 a.m., the Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee undertakes a general overview of disparate impact theory. And in the afternoon, at 1:30 p.m., the Housing & Insurance Subcommittee reviews the implementation of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Act of 2012. Addressing the lack of oversight and accountability at the Consumer Financial Pro... Read More »

Congressman Marlin Stutzman (Twitter | Facebook) delivers this week's Sunday Video Message on the committee's review of the Federal Reserve's "dual mandate." Read More »

Matthew Cooper | November 7, 2013 It’s been five years since Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac went under during the financial crisis. Since then, the mortgage giants have been in conservatorship. Congress is still pondering what to do. Everyone’s pretty much agreed that the two should go. (For the record, neither lends money to homeowners directly; they buy mortgages and turn them into financial instruments that can be traded—thus pumping more money into the housing-finance market.) The question is, what should replace Fannie and Freddie? And it’s there that the House conservatives admired by the t... Read More »

The House is in session Tuesday through Friday this week. Be sure to check back here on the Bottom Line Blog -- and sign up for our email updates -- for committee specific information throughout the week. Here's what's happening: On Wednesday the committee will hold our two subcommittee hearings of the week. At 10 a.m. the Housing and Insurance Subcommittee discusses the future of terrorism risk insurance and at 2 p.m. the Monetary Policy and Trade Subcommittee examines international central banking models. Both hearings are in 2128 Rayburn and will be live streamed on our website. Finally, o... Read More »

Wall Street Journal | Affordable Housing Is What You Can Afford American Action Forum President Douglas Holtz-Eakin on a Senate housing “reform” bill that includes provisions for politically motivated lending. Baltimore Sun | Consumer protection bureau fails to protect A report by a Bipartisan Policy Center task force comes after almost a year's worth of in-depth review and analysis and seems to support what critics of the CFPB have been saying all along: This unaccountable bureaucracy harms business and consumers alike. Heritage Foundation | Fannie and Freddie: What Record of Success? The no... Read More »

Congressman Mick Mulvaney (Twitter | Facebook) delivers this week's Sunday Video Message on the $1.7 billion taxpayer-funded bailout of the Federal Housing Administration. Read More »

The Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act – the PATH Act – expressly preserves the 30-year fixed rate mortgage. In fact, it's the only housing reform bill that specifically does so. But those who defend the status quo are trying to trick you into believing otherwise. Don't believe those scare tactics. Just read it for yourself. On page 39 of the bill, it's spelled out clearly in Section 213: “the FHA… shall provide, among other mortgage insurance products, for the availability of a 30-year fixed rate mortgage.” Not can provide, may provide, or could provide – but SHALL provide. If i... Read More »

Today, the House Financial Services Committee held a hearing on the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) first-ever taxpayer-funded bailout — approximately $1.7 billion. Despite long-standing concerns about its solvency, the FHA has not taken the necessary steps to mitigate its losses. FHA currently has several means at its disposal to minimize losses to its insurance fund, yet the FHA has not fully utilized these tools. As a result, American taxpayers are now on the hook for a $1.7 billion bailout. In light of FHA’s fiscal mismanagement and first-ever taxpayer-funded bailout, Committee Cha... Read More »

The House is in session Monday through Wednesday this week and will consider two Financial Services bills. Additionally, the committee will hold two hearings. Be sure to check back here on the Bottom Line Blog -- and sign up for our email updates -- for more information throughout the week. Here's what's happening: On Tuesday at 10 a.m. the Full Committee will hear from Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner Carol Galante on the FHA's first-ever, $1.7 billion taxpayer-funded bailout. In the afternoon, at 3 p.m. the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee will discuss... Read More »