PhilMax--I believe just as deeply as you in all of the phony perfidies aimed at the GSEs by all of those parties you detailed, but......
My time on the Hill, working at two federal regulatory agencies, and my 21 years at Fannie as their chief lobbyist--some 50 years collected--say if extremes occur, most of those folks get very practical and demand workable political solutions.
I am not sure of the exact circumstances, but if the current mortgage finance system (largely owned by the big banks) begins to fail moderate and middle-income mortgage seekers (it already does that to low-income borrowers), someone at the WH/Treasury will look at Fannie and Freddie as part of the solution.
The key is to keep it away from Congress and do it administratively since there are too many chuckleheads up there who don't understand the GSE's business/offerings, history, or thousand other relevant things.
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