While the nation celebrates Christmas, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac got a special visit from Uncle Sam dressed as Santa. According to this Wall Street Journal article, “The Treasury announced Thursday it was removing the caps that limited the amount of available capital to the companies to $200 billion each.” In other words, Fannie and Freddie now have a blank check from Uncle Sam. Apparently their previous $200 billion credit limit was not enough money to cover their potential losses.
But wait, there’s more. While Fannie and Freddie are bracing for huge losses, their Executive Officers just got their Christmas presents. From the WSJ article: “The companies on Thursday disclosed new packages that will pay Fannie Chief Executive Officer Michael Williams and Freddie CEO Charles Haldeman Jr. as much as $6 million a year, including bonuses. The packages were approved by the Treasury and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, or FHFA, which regulates the companies.”
I guess I should have Santa for a different gift this year . . . I should have asked for a job at Fannie or Freddie.
UPDATE (December 28): Ed Morrissey at Hot Air wrote about this same topic on December 26 and again today. As always, Ed’s analysis is thoughtful and to the point.
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