During the housing boom years, Fannie and Freddie faced political pressure to expand homeownership and competitive pressure from Wall Street to back ever-riskier loans. Defaults and foreclosures piled up. Two summers ago, the companies were in a desperate search to raise enough money to keep going. But it was too late, and the government had to take them over.

Speaking on “Meet the Press” on Sunday on NBC, Treasury Secretary Geithner said the administration’s ultimate plan is likely to bring dramatic changes to the mortgage system.

So far stabilizing the pair of mortgage buyers has cost taxpayers $145 billion.

However, he suggested that the government could still support the housing system. He said the administration will consider “preserving or putting in place a carefully designed guarantee” in which the government would ensure that it’s possible for consumers to get mortgages — even in a severe recession.

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration, which has been under fire for not developing a concrete plan for mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, says it will hold a conference next month to discuss their future.

The government created the two companies as a hybrid of a private company and a federal agency to help make mortgages available. They buy home loans from lenders, package them into bonds with a guarantee against default and sell them to investors.

The administration said Tuesday the event will be held Aug. 17 at the Treasury Department.

They own or guarantee about half of all U.S. mortgages,Abercrombie jackets, or nearly 31 million home loans worth more than $5 trillion.

“We’re not going to preserve Fannie and Freddie in anything like the current form,Giorgio Armani,” Geithner said. “We’re going to have to bring fundamental change to that market.”

The financial overhaul signed by President Barack Obama didn’t address their future, despite protests from Republicans that it was incomplete without a plan for the two companies. The Obama administration has said it wants to wait until next year to determine their future.

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The $4,700 nude silk chiffon and lace banded one shoulder cocktail dress with cutout bodice and clear crystals from Zuhair Murad’s Ready-to-Wear Spring 2010 Collection was a very sophisticated look for KC.

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PHOTOS: Stars who date athletes!

Garcia, who got engaged to Swisher, 29, last May, says she “loves everything about” her beau.

“I know that sounds cheesy and lame, but I just really do,” she said. “I’m impressed and awed by him every single day when I wake up. He’s a really happy person and he’s just really nice.”

The actress has a rough idea of when she’ll say “I Do” to the right-fielder. “We don’t have any set plans yet, but it will definitely be sometime during the off-season,” she hinted. (If the Yankees go to the World Series, that means sometime between November of this year and April 2011.)

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“This relationship’s been the easiest thing I’ve ever done,” she went on. “It works out because we both have crazy schedules for a certain period of time in our lives, but for some reason it doesn’t conflict as much as one would think. Life’s good right now. We’re enjoying it.”

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As for location, “We’re also not sure on that. Basically, I’ve got a timeframe and almost a dress, but other than that, I’m just enjoying being engaged.”

That dress? “I have it narrowed down to two,” she explained. “It’s Monique Lhuillier, but I’m not sure yet. A girl’s allowed to change her mind a few times!”

Garcia has been taping her new sitcom Better With You in L.A. while Swisher is in NYC with the Yankees. Being 3,000 miles apart has “actually been strangely easy,Abercrombie swimwear,” she told Us.

New York Yankee Nick Swisher has a soft side.

“He’s always doing romantic things for me! He’s always… leaving me little things. He draws a lot for me,Prada,” his fiancee Joanna Garcia, 30, told UsMagazine.com at the East Harlem Target opening NYC Tuesday.

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Eddie Borgo made the trip east to Williamsburg last night for Ray-Ban’s Iggy Pop blowout—no huge surprise, given the jewelry designer’s punk leanings. But for his latest spring collection, Borgo tells us he’s going even more hardcore. “I’m looking at different types of constraints, and what being constrained means, in its most aggressive sense,” he began. “It’s hard to explain.” A certain B-word hung in the air. “I’m looking at bondage and different elements of bondage culture,” Borgo exhaled, “and figuring out ways to infuse those very aggressive elements with a feminine point of view.” How, specifically? “Maybe some leather. I’m looking a lot at padlocks now,” he said. As you might expect, Borgo’s been finding inspiration for these pieces in some out-of-the-way places,Wholesale Coogi jeans Jeans, including the work of avant-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger and the nineties animated MTV series Aeon Flux.wholesale clothing.

With his recent CFDA Award nomination,Wholesale Rock Republic jeans Jeans, Borgo’s been officially embraced by the fashion guild. “It’s a nod from the industry, and it’s really encouraging,” he said. (Borgo is up against Alexwholesale ander Wang wholesale and Fenton/Fallon’s Dana Lorenz for the Swarovski Award for Accessory Design.) For his date on awards night, he “contemplated bringing a model,” but went in the end with his boyfriend, stylist Keegan Singh. Win or lose, he said, he’ll be spending at least part of the summer in Greece. “I love the beach. There’s something so impactful about sitting on the edge of anything,” he said. Including.brand clothing, come June 7, the edge of his seat.

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UsMagazine.com first reported that Fischer, 36,Wholesale Ed hardy Shoes, wholesale and Kirk — who have been dating since January 2008 — wed Saturday.

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“Went to the most beautiful wedding I’ve ever experienced,” he writes on Twitter. “Total Love, Jenna Fischer & Lee Kirk!”

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Jenna Fischer’s July 3 Malibu wedding to writer Lee Kirk was one to remember, says her Office costar Rainn Wilson.

ATF continues its tradition of developing new works later in the summer with a workshop and readings of the new musical Loving Leo by Sara Cooper and Zachary Redler on July 25 and 26.

Adirondack Theatre Festival raises the curtain July 9 on the world premiere of a play with local color, Brush the Summer By,Frankie morello, set in and around Lake Placid, NY.

For tickets and more information, call (518) 874-0800 or visiting ATFestival.org.

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Hal Corley, the play takes "the majestic mountains of the Adirondacks,Hollister, crystal clear lakes and popular sites in and around Lake Placid" as inspiration. ATF's producing artistic director Mark Fleischer stages the comedy-drama about a recently divorced Maryland woman who is sent away on a leaf-watching trip by her son.

The July 9 opening follows a preview July 8. Performances continue to July 17 at the Charles R. Wood Theater in downtown Glens Falls, NY. ATF presented Brush the Summer By in summer 2009 in two staged readings after a week of rehearsals during which Corley and Fleischer actively worked on the script. The positive response prompted Fleischer to plan the 2010 world premiere.

"Unimpressed by the scenery and annoyed by her fellow travelers, when her tour bus breaks down she sets off on her own looking for peace and quiet only to stumble upon a man sunbathing in the nude," according to ATF notes. "While their differing world views spark a conflagration, the man (a bartender in a Lake Placid hotel) exposes her to nature, late love and more."

"Each of the two readings resulted in invigorating discussions about the characters and their motivations," Fleischer said in production notes. "Months after the readings I was still being approached on the street by people who saw the readings and wanted to talk about the play. My goal is to produce theatre that sparks a conversation and Hal's play certainly did that. If it sparked such conversation with actors standing behind music stands, I can't begin to imagine the impact a full production with sets, costumes and lights will have."

The cast includes New York City stage actors Suzanna Hay as Ellen and Kevin Kelly as Perry. The show's design team includes David Esler (sets); Matt Frey (lighting); Isabel Rubio (costumes); Ken Goodwin (sound); and Richard DiBella (projections).

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It’s over!

Jillian Harris and Ed Swiderski, who proposed on The Bachelorette, have called off their engagement, the new issue of Us Weekly reports.

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PHOTOS: Check out the biggest Bachelor splits ever!

“I love him and I’m really sad, but I have to look out for me,” Harris, 29, tells Us.

Adds Swiderski, 30, “We’re both kind of resetting. Jillian isn’t happy and I’m definitely sad about the whole thing, but we’ve got to work through some things on our own if we decide to move forward.”

Last August, Us exclusively revealed that Swiderski juggled two girlfriends while wooing Harris on the fifth season of the ABC show (and even slept with one after proposing to Harris, but before the finale aired).

VIDEO: Watch Vienna call Jake “the biggest liar I have ever met in my life!”

“There’s bumps on the road, and we don’t always deal with them properly,” Harris told Us in early June. “Our life is not always perfect.”

For more details about the final straw that drove them apart, how Swiderski wasted no time in hitting on other women and if Harris has regrets about sticking by Swiderski’s side, pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on stands today.

But don’t expect her to line up any more acting gigs in the future.

“I didn’t have many lines or anything like that,wholesale Ed hardy scarves,” says Palin. “I just hope that this show opens up a dialogue between parents and teens — and teens amongst themselves — about the consequences of teen pregnancy, sex in general and relationships.”

She appears as a friend of Amy (Shailene Woodley) at a music program for teen mothers in New York.

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Bristol Palin makes her acting debut on tonight’s ABC Family drama series, The Secret Life of the American Teenager.

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To see her acting debut, tune into The Secret Life of the American Teenager on ABC Family tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

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Still, Palin, 19, says she was happy to film the episode of Teenager.