Bailout the FHA?

"Temporary government rescues have a way of becoming permanent. The history of the FHA (the agency was born in 1934 at the height of the New Deal) teaches that lesson. Yet the price of institutionalizing the FHA's expanded role could be high, both directly to taxpayers and indirectly through crowding out private-sector entities that could do the same job more efficiently. The longer Congress and the administration wait to return the FHA to its core mission -- helping a limited segment of needy home buyers -- the higher that price may be."