As debate begins, here are the facts on Fannie and Freddie

By Kevin G. Hall | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — What role should government play in housing finance?

A struggle over that $5 trillion dollar question, which divides Democrats from Republicans, will begin Wednesday when a subcommittee of the GOP-controlled House of Representatives considers the fate of mortgage-finance titans Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Fannie and Freddie have been in government conservatorship since the Bush administration seized them in September 2008 in an effort to quell global financial panic. Republicans vow to get the government mostly out of the business of mortgage lending; Democrats want to change the role of government support, but not end it.