Fannie and Freddie Costs to Reach 290 billion

Lets just call it the gift that keeps on giving, from subsidyscope via The Economist. By the way that is just for 2009, overall the cost will be a cool 389 billion.

Federal subsidies to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are projected to reach $290 billion in fiscal year 2009 and total $389 billion between fiscal years 2009 and 2019. Using numbers from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), Subsidyscope finds that the projected costs of subsidizing Fannie and Freddie exceed the aggregate subsidies provided by the Treasury's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), which are expected to total $356 billion over the same 2009-2019 period. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are government-sponsored enterprises that purchase mortgages and guarantee pools of mortgages. TARP is a U.S. Treasury program that purchases preferred stock and warrants from banks and other financial institutions, provides asset guarantees and makes loans to automotive companies.

One of the first posts I ever did was calling these monstrosities a quagmire, over 29 billion. Chicken feed!