Reflecting the wishes of the American people through the website YouCut, U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-9) today voted to save hard-working Americans $30 billion by reforming how the government is running taxpayer-financed firms Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac played a direct role in our nation’s financial crisis, and reform at these two troubled mortgage giants is long overdue,” Luetkemeyer said. “Today’s YouCut proposal will bring much needed reform to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and in doing so save taxpayers $30 billion. I am listening to the people we were hired to represent, and proud to support their wise choice.”

Specifically, today’s YouCut proposal introduced on the House floor seeks to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by ending their government conservatorship, shrinking their portfolios, establishing minimum capital standards, and bringing transparency to taxpayer exposure. Taxpayers have been on the hook for $145 billion since taking over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government sponsored mortgage-backing companies, while Congress has neglected proposals to reform the companies and recovering taxpayer dollars. The Congressional Budget Office has indicated that without reform to these companies the cost to taxpayers will continue to grow. Today’s vote is particularly significant, because major financial regulation overhaul legislation being pushed by the Majority does nothing to reform or even regulate Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Each week, Americans will have the opportunity to vote on a spending cut and shortly after all the ideas are processed, Luetkemeyer and his colleagues will seek a vote on the most popular spending cut. Luetkemeyer is encouraging folks to visit http://republicanwhip.house.gov/YouCut/ and help Washington get government spending under control.

###