Time to break up Fannie and Freddie

Time to break up Fannie and Freddie -
From the Heritage Foundation
At what may be a monumental cost to American taxpayers, the federal government has seized control of financial behemoths Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two vestiges of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society that subsidize mortgages. Many analysts have deemed their instability a threat to the American economy.
Now that the seizure is official, some planners on the Left support growing government control over mortgages and housing even further.
But that's not the right solution. Heritage experts chart out what the government's next steps should be-starting with the break-up and privatization of Fannie and Freddie.
"The next President and Congress should allow Fannie and Freddie in their current form to wither to extinction," J.D. Foster, David John and Stephen Keen argue. "The private sector is ready, well-prepared, and subject to the proper incentives to continue to ensure a steady flow of correctly priced capital to America's housing markets."
The Fannie and Freddie takeover is the latest case of politicians disregarding free enterprise ideals when politically expedient, the International Herald Tribune reports. That's why it's so important that The Heritage Foundation continue its work to educate lawmakers about the importance of holding true to these principles.
- David Talbot