Because the Repugnants in the Senate minority routinely refuse confirmation of any presidential nomination, Acting Director Edward De Marco's tenure as overseer of the now nationalized mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is unprotected from termination by replacement should a new acting director be named.

That said, his refusal to comply with an administration "hail Mary" maneuver in the waning minutes of the last quarter of the game gives us a further opportunity to assess the strength of spine which stiffens our feckless Prez. He has belatedly (but at last) , come out with a housing foreclosure intervention proposal with at least the hope of bringing some relief to underwater borrowers. De Marco has refused to implement the plan.

An executive with a shred of self respect (let alone an instinct for self preservation) would surely find it expedient to give De Marco some other duties and install in his place a civil servant more prepared to cooperate in bringing relief to the beleaguered voters borrowers and associated observers of the political scene who shortly will need to decide in whom to place their trust going toward.

This has the potential to be for Prez a defining moment. I'm laying seven-to-five that when the Senate reconvenes in September there has been no new Acting FHFA Director named, and no principal reduction program undertaken. Of course, I have been burned before betting on Obama's fighting spirit. You are free to fade my wager if you are still a true believer.