Dumbest of This Week's 5 Dumbest: The Never Ending Fannie-Freddie Bailout

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's never-ending bailout was considered the dumbest thing on Wall Street this week by readers of TheStreet.

As of late Friday, about 38% of the more than 215 readers that took our poll thought that the government's plan to give Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac more bailout money is a particularly bad idea.

On Thursday, the government announced that the estimate for the Fannie and Freddie bailout would more than double the original bailout package in the next three years, possibly reaching as much as $215 billion.

The White House spent the week touting the success of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, projecting losses would come down to $50 billion, down from a previously estimated $341 billion earlier this year. Unfortunately, while TARP costs go down, the cost of keeping Freddie and Fannie solvent is skyrocketing.

On Wednesday, the New York Federal Reserve teamed up with money management giants Pacific Investment Management, Blackrock (BLK), and Freddie Mac, in demanding that Bank of America (BAC) and Bank of New York Mellon (BK) buy back mortgage-linked loans that Bank of America mortgage lender Countrywide Financial failed to service properly.

The National Association of Attorney Generals representing all 50 states is investigating suspect foreclosure practices at the big banks, leading Bank of America, JPMorgan Financial (JPM) and PNC Financial (PNC) to suspend foreclosure proceeding in at least some, if not all states.

The Obama administration is expected to propose replacing or reshaping Fannie and Freddie early next year.

With approximately 29% of votes, Fox pulling access to its channels from Dish Network (DISH) and Cablevision (CVC) was voted the second-dumbest thing on Wall Street this week.

News Corporation's (NWSA) Fox network continues to play hardball in its negotiations with the cable outfits that distribute its content.

Last week, Fox pulled access to 19 Fox regional sports channels from the Dish network after their agreement expired on Oct. 1. Then Fox pulled its programming from Cablevision, keeping more than 3 million sports fans from watching both the New York Giants football game as well as baseball's National League Championship Series last weekend.

>> Fox-Cablevision Standoff Continues

Predictably, no progress has been made between any of the parties and with pressure mounting, many feel that it's time for the FCC to step in and take action.

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