Washington, D.C. – Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today welcomed the Free Congress Foundation (FCF) to the Homeowners' Education Coalition (HomeEC).  HomeEC is a coalition of taxpayer groups that raises questions about the activities and regulation of the nation's two largest government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  Other HomeEC members include the National Taxpayers Union, the Competitive Enterprise Institute and 60 Plus. 

“As a founding member of the HomeEC coalition, CAGW is pleased to welcome the FCF,” CAGW Vice President Leslie Paige said.  “When Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac carved out exceptions to the government’s privacy protections, the FCF, which focuses heavily on privacy issues, decided to join the coalition to question the arrogance and inappropriate activities of these government-sponsored enterprises.”

“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have continued to exploit their GSE status and pose a significant risk to the American taxpayer," the Free Congress Foundation’s J. Bradley Jansen said.  “Given our longstanding commitment to privacy, we are particularly concerned that the GSEs have carved out an exemption to the privacy protections contained in the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.  This loophole is just one of many ways the GSEs receive special treatment and this trend has to stop.  The Free Congress Foundation looks forward to working with HomeEC to increase oversight of the housing GSEs.”

Launched in March 2000, HomeEC has conducted outreach to the media and educated policymakers about the GSEs’ exploding debt and “mission creep” into areas beyond their public mission.  HomeEC also has published a policy paper entitled, “Corporate Welfare for the Politically Connected: The Story of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”

Rep. Richard Baker (R-LA) reignited the GSE debate last week when he announced his eagerly anticipated legislation - the Secondary Mortgage Market Enterprises Regulatory Improvement Act - which would consolidate oversight of the GSEs into the Federal Reserve Board, a new regulatory body which would review current and future GSE business activities to determine whether they conform with the GSEs’ congressional charter.

Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuse in government.