Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, is currently urging congress to pass legislation that will bolster Fannie Mae (FNM) and Freddie Mac (FRE). If his words are any indication, congress will actually pass laws this week that will ”provide a liquidity backstop and a capital backstop to the GSEs.”

That’s according to Jim Rogers, George Soros’ former fund manager, when asked his thoughts on the Fannie/Freddie bail out. Simply put, Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke are bailing out their friends on Wall Street and passing the buck to 300 million American taxpayers.

Treasury and Fed Promise Bailout for Fannie and Feddie, SEC Crack Down on Rumors. Bloomberg reports that US Stock-Index Futures Gain; Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Advance.

The financial crisis symptom de jure: the struggles faced by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae the giant mortgage loan repackaging companies chartered by the U.S. government, and (assumed to be) guaranteed by Congress. In fact the loan guarantees with the Treasury Department that are available to the companies amount to only a few billion dollars, so the US government's official obligation to help is miniscule.

The Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008 passed the senate with an overwhelming 19 to 2 vote. The new act is designed to help stem the foreclosure crisis and to reform regulations of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Bank system.

Fannie Mae posted a $2.19 billion loss, forcing the company to cut its dividend and seek a $6 billion capital infusion.

If Fannie and Freddie fail the price tag is somewhere between $400 billion and a shade over a trillion of taxpayer money to bail them out. How do you like them apples? A trillion bucks? Big enough to sink the government’s AAA rating. Big enough to make LTCM look like child’s play. This is some scary stuff folks.

Federal regulators settled with former Fannie Mae executives accepting far less in fines than they had originally requested. Former CEO Franklin Raines agreed to donate $2 million to charities and give up stock options that are currently worthless.

While the news of the GSE picking up jumbo conforming loans is, in fact, news, the bigger story is that there hasn’t been much of an appetite for these loans through any channel. First let’s talk about the news of Freddie Mac purchasing jumbo conforming loans (up to $729,750) as part of the Economic Stimulus Act.

If you are facing foreclosure or planning to walk away from your mortgage obligations, Fannie Mae has a strict warning for you.

Fannie Mae, the largest U.S. home funding company, told lenders on Monday that it will require a minimum credit score for loans it buys on an individual basis.