Fannie and Freddie remain the two biggest drains on the government, which has been working to extricate itself from the 2008 bailoutperiod when the Treasury and Federal Reserve pumped hundreds of billions in bailout loans into banks like Citigroup and Bank of America, insurer AIG and automakers General Motors and Chrysler.
Goldman helped itself 212 times, roughly every business day, during the 12-month period beginning in March 2009, all the while telling the world that it needed no bailout.