Neumann serves up pork to get his way

Former Congressman and alleged pork buster Mark Neumann hasn’t always followed a strict kosher diet. In 1998, Neumann used his powerful position on the House Appropriations Committee to raise the ceiling on taxpayer backed FHA loans. In order to get his way, Neumann accepted an additional $80 million in federal spending.

During the mark up, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) and Rep. Mark Neumann (R-WI) successfully offered an amendment to increase the ceiling on FHA loans made by the Federal Housing Administration. As part of this amendment, an additional $70 million was added to NSF research and related activities and an additional $10 million was added to VA medical research.

Last week the MacIver Institute reported the Wisconsin comeback of taxpayer backed home loans for would be homeowners who can’t qualify for a regular loan. The report says the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA) is partnering with Fannie Mae to help get more unqualified applicants into homes they can’t afford.

As a prolific homebuilder during the big boom and eventual bust, there’s no doubt that Mark Neumann has a special appreciation for taxpayer backed mortgages through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

According to the Heritage Foundation:

Most years, Freddie and Fannie help finance 40% of all U.S. mortgages. In the first quarter of 2008, they handled 80% of the market. If Fannie and Freddie were private entities, they would be considered a monopoly by Department of Justice anti-trust guidelines.

Now WHEDA is doling out more of Neumann’s taxpayer backed loans so people can buy up all the foreclosures that resulted from Neumann’s taxpayer backed loans in the first place.