Late yesterday the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Darrell Issa, sent out a press release titled, "Is Fannie Mae's Purchase of Troubled B of A Portfolio a Back-Door Bailout?"
The answer is: No…but let me go back a bit.
Issa's release begins: "Fannie Mae, the government sponsored enterprise bailed out with billions in taxpayer dollars has agreed to buy a portfolio of high risk, deteriorating value loans from Bank of America." Issa goes on to announce his investigation into the matter and request "a full explanation" from Fannie Mae's conservator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) and its acting director Ed DeMarco.
Now here's where it gets tricky.