American Independence Financial Services

Five years after the 2008 financial panic, there are still no concrete plans for what to do with the twin mortgage finance giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The only consensus among Congress, the Obama administration, regulators and the banking industry is that no one knows what to do. No clear compelling vision for the federal governments role in residential mortgage finance has yet to be offered by a party to the debate.

In September, the Census Bureau released its annual estimates of U.S. household and family incomes. The report does not make pleasant reading. Much within the survey questions a central premise of the American Dream: that each generation builds upon what prior generations have bequeathed to attain new levels of comfort and security. If the trends persist, it may be that the best hope for the current generation of Americans coming of age is to at least hold on to the material comforts their parents have known and enjoyed.