Rep. .Neugebauer on Housing

Open email to Rep Neugebauer (Texas):

Dear Rep. Neugebauer,
    Your newsletter was devoted only to housing, and I have read it.
     You wanted to hear how my family has personally been affected by failed government housing policies. You want to hear because you say that buying a home I can afford to keep in America shouldn’t be an exercise in navigating the federal bureaucracy. You also say that House Republicans have a housing finance plan that’s sustainable for homeowners, respectful of hard-working taxpayers, and built to last.
    I have personally had no difficulty with government policies. I have had mortgages in the past, which did not constitute any significant problem. More recently, I served as Power Of Attorney for one of my sons on a mortgage, and I was impressed by the tremendous number of documents which had to be signed. That was a real inconvenience, although I did not get writer's cramp. It was what I call a minor annoyance typical of any government involvement and probably would continue as a part of what you will currently propose.
    On a more abstract basis, I am well aware of the tremendous amount of debt which is being accumulated by the taxpayer in handling housing problems, particularly with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. I see that you now are trying to address that problem.
    You say we have the following problems:
    Today, taxpayers have paid nearly $200 billion for the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – the biggest bailout in history.
Today, taxpayers remain on the hook for $5.1 trillion in mortgage guarantees. That’s roughly one-third of our entire economy.
Today, our government supports 90 percent of new mortgage originations. That’s simply unsustainable.
Today, Washington elites decide who can qualify for a home mortgage – putting the goal of homeownership out of reach for millions of credit-worthy American families. That’s not fair.
Today, the unprecedented level of government control and distortion of our housing markets has produced a declining homeownership rate combined with a staggering foreclosure rate.

For me, the answer is quite simple. Government should get out of the housing business. The private financial markets can easily handle all of these situations. It's not up to government to involve themselves in social engineering to put people into their own houses when those people cannot afford to handle to handle the loans.
However it will take action on your part to get the government out of the housing business. You will have to close down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. There is nothing much you can do about the $5.1 trillion in government mortgage guarantees. Since you have made that commitment, you cannot morally rescind it. Stop completely supporting new mortgage originations. Stop anyone from government to deciding who can or cannot qualify for a home mortgage. Use minimal controls on banks and other lending institutions. If there is a declining homeownership rate, so be it. People should not be buying more than they can afford.