Senate’s mortgage rescue backed by Fannie, Freddie

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Breaking news from Reuters: ‘Key members of the U.S. Senate have reached a deal on a sweeping housing rescue plan that would see Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac backstop a government mortgage insurance fund, two industry sources said Thursday.

More: ‘Sen. Christopher Dodd, chairman of the banking committee, said that a deal had not been finalized. But the plan outlined by the sources says the two mortgage finance giants would offer the funds to cover the costs of a $300 billion mortgage rescue fund.’

One member of the Senate who will probably not be voting in support is our old friend Jim Bunning of Kentucky. Highlights of his comments today in opposition to the bill: ‘A major part of this bill is a big bailout for irresponsible lenders and borrowers.... The whole idea of bailing out people who took a gamble and lost is an irresponsible way to spend the taxpayers’ money. I do not think the people back in Kentucky sent me to Washington to bail out speculators, Wall Street executives, and people who drained the equity in their homes to buy flat-screen televisions and new cars.’

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