Fannie, Freddie Plan Staves Off Disaster

For example, given that Fannie and Freddie now have more liquidity, "does this allow them to grow their loan portfolios permanently?" East asks. Under such a situation, banks and other mortgage lenders may be more willing to increase mortgage funding, he says.

Time will tell the full ramifications of the plans. In the near-term, homeowners can thank the U.S. government for preventing massive bleeding in the mortgage market. Over the long haul, if taxpayers fund the bill, the question will be whether this bailout was really worth it.