Should the government give different protections to different classes of property owners based on a politician’s ability to demonize them? The Senate Banking Committee may weigh in on this matter when it considers a proposal to reform the mortgage-finance market on Tuesday.

The question arises in the context of the government bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The terms of the 2008 conservatorship imposed upon them gave the federal government just less than 80 percent of the stock in the two entities, with private shareholders keeping the other 20.1 percent.