The Gift that Keeps on Giving

January 5, 2010

Dear Concerned Voter,

I would encourage you to review the opinion piece that ran in the January 4th edition of the Wall Street Journal under the headline, “The Biggest Losers: Behind the Christmas Eve Massacre at Fannie and Freddie.”

The editorial begins, “Happy New Year, readers, but before we get on with the debates of 2010, there’s still some ugly 2009 business to report: To wit, the Treasury’s Christmas Eve taxpayer massacre lifting the $400 billion cap on potential losses for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as the limits on what the failed companies can borrow. The Treasury is hoping no one notices, and no wonder. Taxpayers are continuing to buy senior preferred stock in the two firms to cover their growing losses-a combined $111 billion so far. When Treasury first bailed them out in September 2008, Congress put a $200 billion limit ($100 billion each) on federal assistance. Last year, the Treasury raised the potential commitment to $400 billion. Now the limit on taxpayer exposure is, well, who knows?”

The editorial goes on to point out that, after presiding over a combined $24 billion in losses during the last quarter, the CEOs of Fannie and Freddie are now eligible to earn $6 million annually in salary – in cash. What about the “pay czar” you ask? Not surprisingly, these quasi-governmental agencies are exempt from the rules being applied to private banks who received TARP funds. To quote from George Orwell’s Animal Farm, “All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.”

As I frequently note, Congressman Souder’s support of the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street (”TARP”) was the final straw that convinced me someone needed to challenge him in the 2010 Republican primary. Not only are we piling mountains of debt on to our children and grandchildren with these bailouts, we are undermining the very foundations of our free enterprise system.

Just think, after wrecking our housing market, these same bureaucrats now want to “reform” our health care system. Heaven help us.

Posted On Thursday, January 7th, 2010 at 8:12 pm

Look for Troyer for Congress on these social networks:

Or check for campaign updates from Phil on the Troyer for Congress Blog: