A proposed bipartisan House bill that would dissolve Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac but retain an explicit government guarantee for certain mortgage-backed securities appears poised to go nowhere fast, despite vocal trade group support. Earlier this month, H.R. 1859, the Housing Finance Reform Act of 2011, was filed amid a splash of headlines by Rep. John Campbell, R-CA, and co-sponsor Rep. Gary Peters, D-MI. The bill would empower the Federal Housing Finance Agency to issue charters establishing privately held and funded housing finance guarantee associations. The associations would be empowered to deal in conventional mortgages only for the purpose of...