Letter to Senator Merkley (via his legislative correspondent who I met with last Wednesday)
Good Day Ellen,
Thanks for taking your time to listen and bring our concern to Senator Merkley regarding the Treasury’s illegal sweep amendment and recent concerns regarding the Johnson Crapo bill that will harm common people and shareholders like ourselves. Those of us who came to Washington this past week are concerned about essential property rights and future implications of the proposed legislation and unlawful profit takings currently being allowed. The GSEs represent a vast number of owners from across the nation and include individual shareholders as well as police/fire fighter/teacher pension funds.
This is a very sad saga for shareholders (property owners) of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Yet, we believe in our country to ultimately make just and fair decisions. We expect that our country’s government will ultimately respect the laws and protections that were put into place to protect property owners . The 3rd amendment sweep of company profits without shareholder (property owner) compensation is unconstitutional. It should be stopped immediately. The government warrants for Fannie and Freddie stock should be cancelled. The companies have earned the right to be released from conservatorship. More money has now been paid into the Treasury than was extended to the companies during the financial crisis. The companies are generating billions of dollars in profits
It is ironic that even Argentina's government recently agreed to compensate Repsol's shareholders about 5 Billion dollars for the stake they expropriated. We remain positive and hopeful that the United States rule of law will be respected, and law makers will recognize us.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are systemically important companies. America is been one of the very few countries, and possibly the only country, who offers so many of its citizens a real opportunity for home ownership. It is our belief that the basic structure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has been tested and proven successful over decades. Sadly, the companies had vulnerabilities that were exploited by the banking industry, resulting in frightening economic instability. Over the last 4 years, they have worked very hard to improve their business and are essentially reformed. Tellingly, it is the banks who are getting sued for wrong-doing and not Fannie and Freddie.
We believe the best solution is not to do away with these bedrock and uniquely U.S. institutions, but to reform and build them into even stronger companies using the lessons learned through their recent trials. . We honestly care about these companies and believe in their mission that has been carried out for decades. We would even like to offer our help and input in building a stronger housing finance system. Let's not demolish, but remodel and restore, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
We look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Redsolocup (insert real name)
U.S. taxpayer, registered nurse, mother of 5, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholder
(Haha...my grown kids would be horrified to know that I use Redsolocup as a boardname....makes it even better)
AI
