NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Battered by the housing crisis, mortgage finance company Fannie Mae said Friday that it needs another $15.3 billion in bailout money from the federal government.
Fannie Mae (FNM, Fortune 500), which is controlled by the government, reported a fourth-quarter loss of $16.3 billion, including $1.2 billion in dividend payments to the Treasury Department. This is down from $25.2 billion a year earlier and $19.8 billion in the third quarter.
Dividends? Since when does a company distribute profits when it loses money? It does when the Federal government owns it and wants to show phony returns on a losing investment. Then it turns around and gives Fannie more borrowed taxpayer money to alleviate losses partially caused by the dividend payments themselves.
Would this be a crime if a private company did this. Why, yes. Yes it would. This is like having a Ponzi scheme with one investor who has agreed to rip off himself.
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