Key Vote “No” H.R. 3221

On behalf of hundreds of thousands of FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to VOTE “NO” on H.R. 3221: the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Act of 2008. 

This legislation has far reaching consequences and a complex web of markets, industries, and individuals will be affected by it.  To rush through a bill of this magnitude, before all options have been considered, is a grave mistake.

There is a real opportunity to permanently fix the GSE threat to the financial system, not simply prop up mismanaged organizations and compound the existing moral hazard they pose. The proposal currently before Congress simply doubles down the bet on these risky institutions and puts taxpayers explicitly at risk.  Additionally, the bill includes a new tax on GSE revenues as well as a dangerous expansion of their conforming loan limits.

H.R. 3221 would mean government involvement of unprecedented levels in housing markets, making state and local governments landlords.  And the proposed FHA trust fund lacks the restraints necessary to keep monies from the hands of groups whose staff members have been convicted of voter fraud.

Stopgap measures like this legislation simply push an ever-exacerbating problem further down the road, and at a very high cost.  Initial analysis estimates a government guarantee for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could cost taxpayers up to $1 trillion.  This would significantly raise our national debt – a debt that must be repaid, not a slush fund – and expose the dollar and our economy to greater and greater risk.

Given the magnitude of the issue, there is no need to rush the completion of this legislation.  There is time to fully examine this proposal and make certain that taxpayers’ exposure is limited and that the GSEs are put on a path to full privatization.

We will count your vote on the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Act of 2008 as a KEY VOTE when calculating the FreedomWorks Economic Scorecard for 2008. The FreedomWorks Economic Scorecard is used to determine eligibility for the Jefferson Award, which recognizes members of Congress with voting records that support economic freedom.