Tell Your Senator to Vote NO on Menendez-Isakson Amendment #857 to Increase Government Involvement in Mortgages

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Stop taxpayer funding of expensive homes by connie and freddie. Vote no on Menendez-Isakson.

–As one of our million-plus FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your senator and ask him or her to vote NO on the Menendez-Isakson Amendment #857 to the “mini-bus” spending bill. This vote may happen tonight or tomorrow.

–This amendment reverses the very, very small progress that has been made in reducing the federal government’s role in the mortgage market. It is well known that federal interference in the mortgage and housing markets, especially by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, played a central role in creating the housing boom and bust and the financial crisis. It’s time to free the housing market from government intervention. This amendment does the opposite.

–The primary purpose of this amendment is to increase the amount the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) can insure and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can purchase. On October 1, this amount went down from around $730,000 to $625,500 in some markets, lower in others, but just back to where it was before these limits were dramatically increased at the beginning of the current housing crisis. This was an expiration of the increase, not something that took any initiative on Congress’ part.

—This is clearly not a program aimed to help the poor who cannot afford housing—we’re talking about the government getting involved in the housing market to help those who want to buy very expensive houses. At a time when we are supposed to be looking for ways to reduce the government’s role in places it should not be, this should not be a controversial place to start. Government entities now account for 88 percent of all new mortgages. At a time where the American people are again asking where the federal government gets the authority in the Constitution to do certain things, helping the well-off buy expensive houses is tough to justify. The longer the government intervenes in the housing market, the longer the housing correction will take.

Click here to see FreedomWorks’ key vote against the amendment.