Fannie and Freddie in Good Hands with Mel Watt

by Stephen Lendman

On May 1, Obama nominated Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

It replaced the Federal Housing Finance Board (FHFB), the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (DHUD).

It did so following their statutory merger. FHFB regulates Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and 12 Federal Home Loan Banks.

If approved, Watt will replace Edward DeMarco. Since August 2009, he's been acting director. Change.org called him the "single biggest obstacle to meaningful economic recovery."

He blocked reducing the burden of underwater homeowners. Fire DeMarco, urged Change.org.

In January 2013, Public Citizen headlined "Bank of America Settlement Needs Another Look," saying:

It should be investigated to assure proper oversight. It questioned DeMarko's $3.5 billion FHFA settlement. He claimed it's "in the best interest of taxpayers."

It's "restitution for bad loans leading up to the financial crisis." It represents "a quarter of a percent of the $1.4 trillion original value of the loans."

According to Public Citizen's financial policy advocate Bartlett Naylor:

"Obviously there is a huge disconnect between the amount Bank of America is paying as part of the settlement and the financial harm caused to taxpayers by the bad mortgages the bank was selling."

"The deal needs closer scrutiny so we can be sure we don