Jackson opposes GSEs housing relief fund

Secretary Jackson of HUD is on record today opposing a hurricane relief version of the proposal to make Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac send 3.5% of their profits to an affordable housing fund. Per s'morning's Washington Post, he told Bloomberg News, "I don't think we should be dictating what they do as basically quasi-private entities." A more generic version of the proposal was included this spring in the House GSEs regulatory reform bill, HR 1461, but it began to seem in trouble during August, especially in the Senate, where the bill is S. 190. In an effort to gather their fellow Republicans' support for the affordable housing fund, Reps. Oxley and Baker have been offering this week to send the affordable housing money specifically to the hurricane-damaged areas.

[UPDATE: Further coverage of the GSEs situation on our main page.]