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EDITORIAL
A bureaucratic nightmare
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Consider the Obama administration's mortgage-relief program to be another example of an utter government failure.
Putting aside the wisdom of such an approach in the first place, the program -- a taxpayer-funded federal bailout for those in danger of having their homes fall into foreclosure -- provides just another example of a well-intentioned public-sector intervention that did little to solve the problem it was created to address.
Under the program, homeowners who meet certain income conditions can apply to have their interest rate lowered to as low as 2 percent for up to five years. Repayment periods may also be adjusted.
But The Associated Press reported Friday that almost half of the more than 1.3 million homeowners who enrolled have dropped out, with many complaining "that the government program is a bureaucratic nightmare" of paperwork and red tape.
In addition, bank executives accused the Obama administration of inflating the numbers of those involved by pressuring them to sign up homeowners before verifying they met the program's income qualifications. Subsequently thinning applicants who earned too much to qualify for the taxpayer handout slowed down the time it took to process legitimate applications.
So far, just 32 percent -- a measly 421,804 homeowners -- of those who started the program have actually had their loans modified and are making payments on time. Of the $75 billion the federal government made available for "foreclosure relief," only $490 million had been spent, the AP reports.
Meanwhile the program is now "taking in fewer homeowners" and is "petering out," one economist noted, without having made but a dent in a tide of foreclosures that is expected to continue growing into next year.
Of course, shutting down this failed enterprise will likely be impossible, as the captains of our economy in the White House and the Democratic Congress stand at the helm bellowing "stay the course!" while the ship of state limps forward, listing badly to the left and taking on water.
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Jealousy rears its ugly head?
If you hadn't noticed, "Dirty Harry", Democrats are running the country. Conservatives are cannon fodder for the Daily Show. A great source of amusement. No one with any intelligence takes conservatives serious.
"Girly Man"? At 6'4", 250 lbs., not hardly. I bet I could eat soup off your head!
The odds are that I am better educated than you, too. Probably better looking... ;-)
I am happy to say that I am successful and have been blessed with many fine attributes. ;-)
Diogenes of Stupid - pretty tough talk from a limp-wristed, silly, girly-man. Maybe you're not a communist or a socialist, but you sure are stupid. Enjoy November, loser.
Jar Head, I am neither a communist or a socialist.
That is the label gullible Marines give to others who do not share their opinions.
Quit reading comic books and learn to think for yourself. None of that "lead, follow, or get out of the way" nonsense propagated by the USMC.
Years ago I saw on the TV show "That's Incredible" a US Marine who was a free thinker.
That truly was incredible!
like a stupid jar head is fluent in German and Spanish...most of them are too dumb to speak English.
Another in a long list of failures.
Yo! So-crates! Didn't you really mean: Los trabajadores de todo el mundo siempre se ha buscado un futuro sin guerra, la explotación, la desigualdad y la pobreza. Se esfuerzan por construir un futuro mejor, una basada en la democracia, la paz, la justicia, la igualdad, la cooperación y las necesidades humanas. Ese futuro es el socialismo, un sistema en el que las personas que trabajan controlar sus propias vidas y destinos, y juntos construir un mundo mejor. El Partido Comunista de EE.UU. está dedicado a la lucha por el socialismo en este país. Este documento es el programa de nuestro partido, una declaración de nuestros principios y metas y una guía para la acción en el camino hacia el socialismo EE.UU..
El socialismo marcará el comienzo de una nueva era en este municipio. La gran riqueza de los EE.UU. será por primera vez redundar en beneficio de todo el pueblo. La política exterior se basará en el respeto mutuo, la paz y la solidaridad. los derechos del pueblo democrático será garantizado y ampliado. La igualdad racial, de género y social será la base de las políticas y prácticas nacionales. El socialismo no es un sueño, sino una necesidad para la vida laboral de las personas. Sólo el socialismo tiene las soluciones a los problemas del capitalismo en este país.
Gervaise Brook-Hamster - You can get it at CPUSA.com...
Diogenes, I'm interested in your ideas and would like to subscribe to your newsletter.
A true cynic? How so?
I posted my Spanish translation challenge to Not-so-deep Thoughts twenty minutes ago. Of course, since he is not REALLY Hispanic, he did not translate the Spanish text.
Not only is he a fool he is a liar as well.