Fannie Mae-No Politics (FNMA)

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This is what chessmaster was referring to: Warner's pathetic attempt at dodging a legitimate question.

'At a housing forum last month, Sen. Mark Warner (D., Va.) brushed away the idea that Fannie and Freddie should be returned to their former ownership simply after paying as much in dividends as they had borrowed. “I was a venture capitalist for a lot longer than I’ve been a politician. If I had put $180 billion into Fannie and Freddie back in 2009, I’d expect more than a one-to-one return on that,” he said. “So once I got a 30-to-one return…talk to me about Fannie and Freddie making money.'

http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2013/11/06/why-fannie-and-freddie-are-paying-back-uncle-sam/

In my opinion, not only did Treasury get the money back in which it invested, it also got liquidation preference on the preferred shares as well as warrants to 79.9% of the commons. Given FnF's recent profitability, I'd say that's one hell of an investment return.