This should be more noteworthy

According to the WSJ

Fannie Mae's stock price has been on an upswing since late summer, reflecting investor confidence that a Democratic Congress would make strict scrutiny of the mortgage giant less likely (see the nearby chart). And there's no doubt that with Barney Frank wielding the gavel in the House Financial Services Committee, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will have a pal on Capitol Hill. Mr. Frank is already talking about expanding the companies' operations (and thus taxpayer exposure to any financial accident).

Fortunately, James Lockhart is still running the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, or Ofheo, and he's shown no appetite for tolerating the shenanigans of the two lobbying powerhouses. This week he filed a 101-count notice of civil charges against Franklin Raines, Fannie's former CEO, and two other former executives. The suit seeks $115 million in restitution of ill-gotten pay and another $100 million in
fines for six years' worth of proven financial misrepresentations at Fannie.

This is something for Mr. Frank to consider as he negotiates with Treasury over an Ofheo reform bill. Few big businesses inspire the Massachusetts liberal's regulatory forbearance the way Fannie and Freddie do. This is ironic, because the fact that the two companies are government-sponsored and hold an implicit government guarantee on their debt means they deserve more scrutiny than the average private company. The companies are playing in effect with House money.

Fannie's friends on Capitol Hill ran out the clock on a stronger oversight bill in the GOP Congress. And with Democrats back in charge, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is now trying to negotiate a compromise. One of Mr. Frank's demands is the creation of a new "affordable housing fund" that the mortgage giants would finance -- a several-hundred-million-dollar Fan-and-Fred tax to dole out to such partisan liberal outfits as Acorn. Whether funded as a percentage of profits or revenues, such an annual patronage bonus would give Congress one more political incentive to see the siblings grow.