this time it was former fannie mae c.e.o. daniel mudd doing the crooning, as the commission turned its attention to government-backed mortgage giants fannie mae and freddie mac. >> susie: tom, american taxpayers paid dearly for their poor decisions. fannie and freddie were taken over by the government in 2008 and so far they've cost taxpayers more than $125 billion. >> tom: the companies had the twin tasks of encouraging homeownership while growing shareholder profits. stephanie dhue reports. >> reporter: former fannie mae c.e.o. daniel mudd says meeting his firms competing goals of increasing affordable housing and maximizing profits was an impossible task. >> the government-sponsored enterprises were able to balance business and mission when home prices were rising. they could perform when home prices were flat. they could survive a 30-year flood, but not 2008. >> reporter: in 2005, when the housing market was still booming, the companies were embroiled in accounting scandals and losing market share to wall street firms. in response, f