The billionaire's club: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by the numbers

[annm4peace]

The billionaire's club: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by the numbers
By Molly Priesmeyer Jul 15 2008 02:04PM | 1 Comment
Remember the American Dream? It had a roof on top. A door to happiness in its belly. And in some cases, a white-picket fence around its edges. Now homeownership and all its once-cherry-on-top privileges are on blue-light special: Bargain-basement dreams are in danger of turning into nightmares for millions of Americans, and it shows no sign of ending soon.

Fannie Mae and Fannie Mac, two companies chartered by Congress to ostensibly help more Americans own homes, are the largest providers and buyers of home loans in the country. Last year around this time, Fannie Mae held $47.2 billion of securities backed by subprime mortgages, while Freddie Mac held $120.8 billion, according to the International Herald Tribune. Together they hold about $40 billion in bonds backed by home-equity loans. And overall, they own about 40 percent, or about $1.4 trillion, of all U.S. home loan debt. If they fail, the U.S. economy doesn't just crumble, it completely implodes.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has repeatedly said that won't happen, because the government would buy shares in the companies to ensure they have enough liquidity to survive. Shares are tumbling, Wall Street is sweating bullets, and stock holders are running from the wreckage. But it's not just shareholders left holding the burning bag. Here's a look at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by the numbers, and what could be your tax dollars hard at work:

$13.4 million: Amount in salary and compensation paid to Fannie Mae CEO Donald Mudd in 2007, a 7 percent increase in pay from the year prior despite the fact that the company's shares lost a third of their value in 2007

$18.9 million: The total amount, not including salary, compensation, and stock options, Freddie Mac CEO Richard Syron is eligible to receive through extension bonuses, "equity grants," and "performance awards" if he stays through 2009

$12.77 million: The total amount in lobbying expenses paid by Freddie Mac in 2007

$3.3 million: The total amount in lobbying expenses Freddie Mac has paid so far in 2008

$12.3 million: The total amount in lobbying expenses paid by Fannie Mae in 2006

$1.8 million: The total amount in lobbying expenses Fannie Mae has paid so far in 2008

$46 billion: The estimated amount Fannie Mae would have to add to its reserves to meet new Financial Accountings Standards Board requirements

$29 billion: The estimated amount Freddie Mac would need to add to its reserve to meet those same requirements

$30 billion: The amount of credit the Federal Reserve awarded to JPMorgan to buy ailing Bear Stearns in March of this year


$124.6 billion: Total paid by U.S. government in the early 1990s for the Savings and Loan scandal caused by fraud and unregulated and imprudent lending practices

747: Total number of savings and loan associations that failed as a result of the scandal

$165 million: Average amount needed to bail out each institution then

$35 billion: Average amount needed to bail out each ailing institution today


http://minnesotaindependent.com/view/the-billionaires

[fasttense]

1. And the give away of our national wealth to the uber idiots and liars

continues. Will there be anything left of this country after bush is done giving it all to his friends? This wouldn't have happened if the bushes had been IMPEACHED, thanks Nancy.

[ShockediSay]

2. It's the Lobby Lawyers, Stupid

Check out Bill Moyers this week end re "artful lobbying"
by Fannie and Freddie

http://www.pbs.org/search/search_results.html?q=moyers&btnG=GO
^best I can do by way of link

IMHO it was the lobby lawyers for Fannie and Freddie who greased
the skids into the subPrime mess that helped bring down our
economy

& who else helped bring down our economy? > the Bushies who decided
to bring on a war of choice v Iraq, on borrowed money <dropping the
value of American currency for less, esp at the gas pump>

for the sake of US petro dollars

http://www.propertysecrets.net/topic/post33583.html