At the center of one of the largest political debates of a generation is a five-term West Texas Republican who never wanted to be a politician. Randy Neugebauer (R-Texas) is both a self-proclaimed conservative and long-time proponent of the free market. But he never dreamed he’d be fighting for those beliefs on a national level. “When I was a kid I was going to be a fireman or a policeman,” Neugebauer tells HousingWire from an office in Washington D.C. Neugebauer is in an office on Capitol Hill briefly taking a break in between congressional votes. He’s attending a hearing about the proposed risk-retention rule and its accompanying amendment, the qualified residential mortgage.