More Money For Freddie

Ouch.

The U.S. Treasury took control of Freddie Mac and its sister entity, Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB), at the height of the financial crisis in 2008 as loan losses mounted.

Since the government takeover, the two firms together have requested close to $150 billion from the government’s unlimited credit line, scheduled to expire at the end of 2012.

The plan to put Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae into conservatorship was meant to be temporary.

But nearly two years later, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has only just begun the process of figuring out how to overhaul the U.S. housing finance system.

There’s a reason for that… Obama doesn’t want to give up control of Freddie and Fannie.