Fannie Mae-No Politics (FNMA)

[big-yank]

My recollection of pre-conservatorship 2008 is different. I seem to recall Alan Mulally at Ford turning down any bailout assistance, unlike GM & Chrysler. And I know for a fact that many banks did not want any funds under TARP and took great umbrage with the government forcing them to take TARP relief to ease what you correctly identify as a liquidity crisis. BB&T is one bank I am personally familiar with that resisted any TARP funds, then paid them back with a surplus in subsequent years.

The government did act pre-emptively in many of the things it implemented to stave off a possible depression. And I remain fully comfortable with government's motives for imposing conservatorship as authorized by HERA. Fear of another great depression is exactly the kind or urgent response our government should make. If it gets labeled as out of "fear", which I reject, I still find the outcome preferable to procrastinating until it becomes too late to react in any meaningful way. To wit, in WWII, The U.S. declared war on Germany before the world was fully overrun and our children destined to speak German and eat processed bratwursts for the rest of their existence. In the case of the GSEs, I see relatively little difference in "acting out of fear".