United Liberty
FHA
McCain Resurgence Plan - $300 Billion for What?
Thu, 10/09/2008 - 6:12am | posted by Brett Bittner
During Tuesday’s debate, John McCain discussed briefly a plan to spend $300 billion taxpayer dollars to transform households in foreclosure into FHA guaranteed fixed-rate mortgages. Yesterday afternoon, he followed it up with an e-mail to supporters (of which, I am not, but I like to keep abreast of general asshattery) that gave us a link to follow to learn more. I took him up on the offer, and I decided to take a look at real numbers to put the plan in perspective, since $300 billion taxpayer dollars is a pretty lofty sum for someone else to promise.
The Next Big Bailout
Fri, 10/09/2009 - 4:20pm | posted by Doug Mataconis
Time for all of us to learn about the Federal Housing Administration:
A year after Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac teetered, industry executives and Washington policy makers are worrying that another government mortgage giant could be the next housing domino.
Problems at the Federal Housing Administration, which guarantees mortgages with low down payments, are becoming so acute that some experts warn the agency might need a federal bailout.
Running questions about the F.H.A.’s future — underscored by interviews with policy makers, analysts and home buyers — came to the fore on Thursday on Capitol Hill. In testimony before a House subcommittee, the F.H.A. commissioner, David H. Stevens, assured lawmakers that his agency would not need a bailout and that it was managing its risks.
But he acknowledged that some 20 percent of F.H.A. loans insured last year — and as many as 24 percent of those from 2007 — faced serious problems including foreclosure, offering a preview of a forthcoming audit of the agency’s finances.
“Let me simply state at the outset that based on current projections, absent any catastrophic home price decline, F.H.A. will not need to ask Congress and the American taxpayer for extraordinary assistance — we will not need a bailout,” Mr. Stevens said in his testimony.
But to its critics, the F.H.A. looks like another Fannie Mae. The hearings on Thursday came on the same day that the federal agency charged with overseeing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac provided a somber assessment of those giants’ health. In the year since the government stepped in to rescue them, the companies have taken $96 billion from the Treasury, and may need more.
