"Johnson's decision to put Fannie Mae in private hands was not based on conviction, philosophy or anything positive. It was done to get the increasing Federal indebtidness "off the books" so he could spend huge amounts of money on social programs that most of his party demanded, and on war in Viet Nam at the same time, without exploding the National Debt."

No kidding! ;-) And don't I know it. That's why privatization is done in Canada too. It's done to get Federal indebtedness off the books. It's done by both Liberals and Conservatives. The Conservatives also do it because of their convictions, their political philosophy, that sort of thing, that's why I say they're proud of it when they do it....but they still really do it just to get the debts off the federal books.