Housing Finance Reform Assumptions Refuted by Congressman Garrett

Housing Finance Reform Assumptions Refuted by Congressman Garrett

by Jann Swanson

The new Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises has invoked what he called "The Cantor Rule" as a framework for reforming the U.S. housing finance mechanism. 
Representative Scott Garrett (R-NJ) shared with attendees at the American Securitization Forum (ASF) Conference on Monday what Majority Leader Eric Cantor tells House members to always ask themselves, 'Are my efforts addressing job creation and the economy; are they reducing spending; and are they shrinking the size of the federal government while increasing and protecting liberty? If not, why am I doing it? Why are we doing it?'
"Applying the Cantor Rule to the GSEs," Garrett said, "the question I believe needs to be answered first is - What are the things we can be doing right now, this very instant to: 1.) Protect taxpayers; 2.) End the bailouts; 3.) Get private capital back in our mortgage markets; and 4.) Decrease government exposure to housing?  I believe these four objectives should be the driving forces in our initial decisions regarding GSE reform legislation." Read more