Barney Frank : "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are very important public utilities. They are not now contributing to the crisis"

Reuters reports:

Almost a year after market confidence in Fannie and Freddie eroded rapidly, leading to their seizure by the U.S. Treasury, Frank said a restructuring of the housing finance behemoths was not high on his agenda for this year. It would be a top priority for next year.

"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are very important public utilities. They are not now contributing to the crisis," he said.

I guess anyone who's given Barney Frank that much money in campaign contributions can be expected to be defended.