Dear Editor,
In 2008 the U.S. Treasury backed FNMA & FMCC with $187 billion dollars, because the “too big to fail” banks sold misrepresented toxic assets to FNMA & FMCC. The U.S. Treasury bailed out the banks and enabled them to return to financial health. In the subsequent years, FNMA & FMCC have paid the U.S. Treasury more than $200 billion, but FHFA / U.S. Treasury will not release FNMA & FMCC from conservatorship, in violation of the original 2008 agreement. FNMA & FMCC are financially stable and profitable. In 2012, when these institutions became profitable, FHFA / U.S. Treasury changed the agreement to take all profits and not allow them to recapitalize. All their profits were swept into the U.S. Treasury to support the deficit.
The Fifth Amendment (Amendment V) to the United States Constitution protects against abuse of government authority.
The Fifth Amendment requires that the power of eminent domain be coupled with "just compensation" for those whose property is taken.
In violation of the Fifth Amendment, several bills in Congress wipe out the stockholders of FNMA & FMCC, after the companies have paid back taxpayers. There are millions of people who own FNMA & FMCC stock through pensions, 401K, mutual funds affected. Additionally, many community banks and other institutions own these stocks, which will have effects on their ability to provide local business loans.
Bill Carney
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Too much authority