government regulators say officials have set limits for whoever takes over, a target of $500,000 a year in pay. the chairman of the house financial services committee says it s about time. in a statement he writes: the lavish compensation packages, million dollar bonuses that have been given to top executives in these two failed companies are an outrage to those taxpayers whose assistance is the only thing keeping fannie mae and freddie mac afloat. though one analyst and former federal housing official says taxpayers actually got a pretty good deal for their money. you can t look at the pay and the losses, um, you do not the compensation executive is not like a stock in the stock market. it doesn t go up and down every day. you have to pay to attract people who have the background and sophistication and expertise to run this multitrillion dollar effort. reporter: and most of the current losses at fannie mae and