With quasi-government mega-lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reeling congress in now seriously considering amending the housing bill to help prop them up in addition to the FHA and other provision already in the bill. We get this from a recent WSJ article on the subject:
Supporters of the overall housing package, which includes a program to refinance mortgages headed for foreclosure and tax relief for homeowners, said they hoped it, too, would pick up momentum if it is combined with the administration’s rescue plan for Fannie and Freddie. It may reduce the chances President George w. Bush would veto the bill over some of the provisions administration officials dislike. And it may help to smooth negotiations over the differences between House and Senate-passed versions.
“It would seem to me you could marry the two and move them quicker,” said Sen. Johnny Isakson (R., Ga.), of combining the housing bill with the new proposal to aid Fannie and Freddie. “It puts something the White House wants done with a bill that the White House has expressed a few second thoughts about.”