Saturday, May 15, 2010

Obama's "mortgage modification" scam: Killing more homeowners than it saves?

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'
-Ronald Reagan

To my fellow Americans: Ponder these words carefully before you take dime one from any government-assisted, government-backed program. Because sometimes, it's really not about helping you, it's about you helping the government create the perception that they're helping you. Then, of course, it doesn't matter if you drown from being pushed into the deep end of a government program, after all, once you've made the president look good, even as part of a statistic, your have served your purpose and outlived your usefulness.

Classic example:

Some Homeowners Worse After Getting Rushed Into Gov't Loan Mod Program

Despite fulfilling every obligation under trial government-sponsored loan modification programs, some homeowners can end up far worse off than if they had never joined up at all, Propublica reports. That's because if they're denied a permanent modification, they have to pay the entire amount that was being discounted, often within a very short period of time. This pushes already strapped families past the breaking point.

So what were they doing in the program in the first place? Here's a clue:

...the Treasury Department encouraged banks to start trials quickly, causing banks to make trial offers to people without fully vetting their eligibility, and ultimately letting in many homeowners who were destined to fail.

Aha! The banks, most of which were owned lock, stock, and barrel by the government, were pressured into making these "mortgage modifications" by Treasury. Need to guess why? Maybe a certain president was in a rush to see his policies set into motion, and, with no understanding of how capitalism works, demanded that banks bring people into a program that was destined to fail them.

More:

Trial modifications are supposed to become permanent after three months of successful payments. But even though she held up her end of the deal, she found herself booted from the program, joining a swelling number of homeowners who are finding themselves in a situation that’s worse than if they had never entered the program to begin with.

And it’s just the latest example in a litany of problems that have beset the government’s efforts to save millions of struggling homeowners from losing their homes...

Oh well. As far as liberals are concerned, it is their intentions that mattered, not the results, so if their half-assed plan actually killed more homeowners than it saved, well, the only thing for certain is that it's not their fault. After all, they meant well - what else matters?

Coming up next: Government-managed health care - how many millions of Americans will be killed by the Barack Obama's and the Democratic party's "good intentions"?

And remind me - what is the road to Hell paved with again?

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