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    Obama Administration Spells Out Endgame for Fannie, Freddie

    Feb 11, 2011 07:38 PM EDT

    ... implicit in any government role in housing finance." Fannie and Freddie are known as government-sponsored enterprises (or GSEs) that were designed to help promote affordable housing. But as they grew during the housing bubble, they took on more risky mortgages with what was considered an implicit or explicit guarantee ...

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    Obama Administration Unveils Fannie, Freddie Proposals to Much Debate

    Feb 11, 2011 06:54 AM EDT

    ... few years. There's no doubt that Fannie (founded in 1938) and Freddie (which came about later) have played an ever-growing role in the housing market. The two government-sponsored enterprises (or GSEs) helped foster the market for affordable housing by either owning, selling or backing mortgages with what ...

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    Tea Time on Capitol Hill

    Jan 27, 2011 09:30 PM EDT

    ... except for the Pell grant program, and cut funding in half for the Department of Commerce. Smaller items that would be abolished would include the Affordable Housing Program, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. Even with those reductions, Paul argued more cuts would be ...

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    The Economy in 2010: Stories You May Have Missed

    Dec 30, 2010 08:21 PM EDT

    ... s where agreement ends. Republicans have long sought to rein Fannie and Freddie in, but Democrats have argued they play an important role in financing affordable housing. Should they become completely private? Should they have any level of government guarantee? How do you change two massive entities when they are ...

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    Q&A: Ireland's Housing Market Boom Goes Bust

    Dec 07, 2010 05:17 PM EDT

    ... will never be high enough to meet the amount of houses that were built. There has been some talk of the government using the excess housing stock for social or affordable housing. This may work but it has one major flaw in that you can only put people in places ...

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    Across Patchwork Nation, Harsh Economic Realities Hit Home

    Jul 05, 2010 04:51 PM EDT

    ... better for those living on top of the mesa near Santa Fe, but things have since soured a bit. "There was a bounce in the affordable housing area, fueled by the tax incentives, but since they expired that had lost its steam. The rest of the Real Estate market continues ...

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    News Wrap: Obama Warns Insurers Against Profiteering Over Reform

    Jun 22, 2010 04:00 AM EDT

    ... to end veteran and chronic homelessness by 2015 and eliminate homelessness among families and children by 2020. To accomplish that, the strategy would provide more affordable housing options and better access to sustainable employment. It would also ensure that assistance programs are integrated with health care and education. A key ...

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    Investors Help Bring Sanitation to Kenya's Poor

    Apr 14, 2010 04:00 AM EDT

    ... He's branching out to Tanzania and Uganda as well. JIM LEHRER: Fred's report is part of our collaboration with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. In his next piece from Kenya, Fred looks at another investment by the Acumen Fund into safe, affordable housing in Nairobi's slums.

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    Do We Need a Consumer Protection Agency?

    Feb 19, 2010 05:30 PM EDT

    ... Federal housing policy was a major contributor to the mortgage crisis because banks were encouraged to make unsound sub-prime loans to meet congressionally mandated affordable housing goals. Government was the cause of the problem and is not the solution. There are already multiple federal agencies regulating the financial sector ...

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    Olympic Snowboarding Coach on Training Challenges, Technology

    Feb 12, 2010 11:07 PM EDT

    He bears little resemblance to Sir Walter Scott's Rob Roy and the cocktail isn't named after him. This Rob Roy's day job is building affordable housing projects for senior citizens in Oregon. But that's not all. He's also spent the last quarter-century coaching ski ...