Fannie Mae Investors Don’t Need Rep. Delaney’s Sympathy

July 19, 2015

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By Guest Post. Originally published at ValueWalk.

Fannie Mae Investors Don’t Need Rep. Delaney’s Sympathy by Investors Unite

At a conference hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center, Rep. John Delaney, D-MD, dismissed very bluntly the claims of shareholders in Fannie Mae / Federal National Mortgage Assctn Fnni Me (OTCBB:FNMA) and Freddie Mac / Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (OTCBB:FMCC).

“I do think the claims as related to these interests are some of the most unsympathetic claims that I have heard in my life,” Delaney said.

That is a rather dismissive attitude about retired teachers, law enforcement officers, veterans, homemakers, computer programmers and other hard-working Americans who invested in the GSEs for education funds for their children or for a well-earned retirement or to buy a home.

It is apparent that Delaney does not fully understand what this litigation is really about: Government actions that run afoul of both the law and the Constitution. Investors and taxpayers, indeed all Americans, should have confidence that the government cannot just roll in and take their property without appropriate recompense. The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which Rep. Delaney swore to uphold when he took his oath of office, explicitly prohibits such takings.

At the same time, Delaney does seem to recognize the net effect of the Third Amendment Sweep. He commented that there isn’t a lot of appetite for changing the status quo as it concerns Fannie and Freddie because, in part, “the government is making a lot of money off of it.”

Yes. And this is not what the law intended.

GSE shareholders don’t want sympathy: They want their government to uphold the rule of law and enforce the same legal rights that all investors have. And that is what Investors Unite will continue to pursue.