Fannie and Freddie, unchaperoned.

• Author: Peters, Charles
• Position: Tilting at Windmills

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are gigantic forces in the nation's economy. If they happen to head south, as the recent disquieting news about Freddie Mac suggests is at least possible, so will a lot of the rest of us. After all, according to The Washington Post's Carrie Johnson, they "own or back nearly half of the nation's residential mortgage debt."

But guess who is responsible for regulating them--someone with at least a bit of muscle, like, maybe the SEC, or the Treasury Department? Not on your life. Deep in the bowels...