No Surprise: Government's 'HOPE for Homeowners' Program Hasn't Worked

Let's see, we turn over a big problem to the federal government to solve and they mess it up even more. Why should anyone be surprised?

If you want to see how well the Federal Government works at solving economic problems, read this article from CNN: Renewed HOPE for Homeowners

Hope for Homeowners has a 1 in 400,000 success rate.

Government's ‘Hope for Homeowners’ foreclosure rescue plan, rolled out last year, was set to target 400,000 distress families in some stage of foreclosure. The program was geared to keep those families in their homes. When the program was rolled out, many complained that it didn't go far enough, only helping 400,000 families of the millions facing foreclosure. Now we find the bar for ‘too little’ was set way too high for the government to meet. Out of the 400,000 families targeted to be saved by this program only ONE family/home was actually saved. This is a program with massive overhead, a huge staff, and there success rate was 1 out of 400,000.

As if we needed yet ANOTHER example of government's ineptness, this gives you an idea of what results we can expect if the government gets involved in health care, or further involved in the financial markets or banking industry. The Federal Government has bankrupted soc. sec., medicare, etc., and has shown they are incapable of solving hardly any problem. Why would you want to turn MORE over to them? This would be like having a basketball team and your best shooter misses one jump shot, so you turn to the worst shooter on your team and tell him to start taking MORE shots. (More examples of Government's failure to solve problems.)

Letting the worst shooter (Fed. Gov.) take more shots.

If you think the bank industry and the financial markets were inefficient before, give it some time with new regulations and government involvement, and watch the cost to borrow, and the cost to invest, sky rocket. If you think health care costs are high now, just wait 'till they're "free."

Kevin

Editorial Cartoons by Steve Sack

Editorial cartoons by Steve Sack...

John Stossel's "Bailouts and Bull" on 20/20

John Stossel gets it.

John Stossel has once again gotten it right. He's one of the only reporters in the mainstream media who will tell you the truth. If you missed his special last night, here it is. You may also want to watch his previous special, which I blogged about and posted here.

You can watch the six different segments below, or you can also watch this episode in its entirety here at ABC.

Everyone in America should watch this and John's previous reports. Pass it around!

Fed. Government's Failed Bailouts


Fed. Government Scares the Middle Class


Fed. Government's Failure to Control Traffic and at Building Roads


Fed. Government Wants to Controll Pre-School


Fed. Government Spends Billions and Fails to Control Border


Fed. Government's Control Over State Rights


Kevin

Obama Makes the Big-Spender Bush Look Thrifty

If Obama gets his way, by his own admission, the deficit will be above $1 TRILLION over the next THREE YEARS, for a total of around $3.7 T. That's nearly what the big spender Bush II took EIGHT years to do ($4.3 T). And all this put into motion in Obama's first couple of months. Eeegads. Spending under Bush was terrible, but apparently it's going to be even worse under Obama and the D-controlled congress.

Big spender Obama. So much for change.

Obama's $3.6 trillion spending and tax plan is the biggest effort to shift the federal government's role in the economy since Reagan's in 1981. But instead of rolling back government, Obama advocates growing it. ....Shudder.... If Congress declines to raise taxes on carbon emissions, or other areas, it will force the deficit even higher. Likewise, should all his tax increases pass, that could slow the economy even more, and the deficit goes higher still.

I might be for raising taxes if I thought for one minute the Gov would use it to pay down the deficit like Bush I and Clinton did, but I don't trust Obama to do that. He's got way to big of a social agenda and seems to lack a basic understanding of economics. (Clinton also did not control federal spending, considering it increased by almost 30% during his tenure. What saved him was the dramatic increase in tax revenues from a healthy economy created in the tech and other sectors during that time.)

Want to see just how much Obama want's to borrow from your children, watch this:

Glenn Beck graphically depicts our Federal Government's out of control spending.

Politicians, R's and D's alike, just can't resist spending your money, and mortgaging your children's future. The national debt is already nearly $11 TRILLION, that's $35,000 for every person living in America, and this all BEFORE Obama starts with his crazy spending!

The stock market clearly isn't liking what they are hearing from Obama. It's down 20% in the short time since Obama's inauguration and down nearly 40% from the time it was evident that Obama was going to become President. Ouch!

The Stock Market Isn't Buying Obama's Tax and Spend Plan

Look at what CNN's Mad Money host Jim Cramer has to say about Obama's policies.

According to a recent poll, over a quarter of those who voted FOR Obama now regret it.

26% of those who voted for Obama wish they hadn't.

Obama's DISapproval rating has increased from 10% to 26% in just over a month as more people, like me, who had hoped that Obama would be different, have learned about his same-old higher taxes and bigger government programs.

Obama's Disapproval rating goes up from 10% to 26% in just over a month.

So, what's to be done? How do we get our economy back on it's feet?

I would encourage everyone to read Free to Choose by Milton and Rose Friedman. (A 10-part TV series was also made along with this book.) If ever there was a time for people to understand how our economy works, it's now, while Obama and the Democratic-controlled congress try to reshape our country into the great society.


Milton Friedman, he was was an American economist, statistician and public intellectual, and a recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Even though this book and his ideas are from a few decades ago, they remain true principles that seem to have been lost.

If you're not familiar with Milton Friedman or his beliefs, you can find several good video interviews with him on YouTube. Here is one small sample of him being interviewed by Phil Donahu.



Get this book, read it, and see if it doesn't make a lot of sense, and if it does, is Obama putting us on the right track?

Kevin

I Have An Idea - TWO Competing Tax/Benefit Systems

Here's my idea...

We have TWO tax codes and TWO government benefit "packages." One would be set by the Democrats and on by the Republicans. Democrats can collect all the taxes they want from fellow Democrats, and Republicans from Republicans. Each party then has their own set of "perks."


For example, if you want "free," government-run health care, you can pay taxes to the Democrats and get that perk from them. If you would rather pay less in taxes and be responsible for your own health care insurance, then you could choose Republican. You get the idea.

Competition would then keep both parties on their toes. Everyone could decide which party gives you the most bang for your buck. High taxes and big perks? Or lower taxes and lower perks?

Of course, some functions would need to be agreed on and provided together from both parties (highways, national defense, etc.), but we'd have competition for all those fun little perks that politicians like to promise us (free health care, college education, welfare, etc.).

Of course, this plan would never work, at least not for the Democrats. Why? Because they need all those Republican entrepreneurs and business people to pay big taxes to pay for all their programs.

Obama's program is a simple three step plan:

1. Tax 5% of the population.
2. Give lots of perks to the other 95%.
3. Take all the credit, pat yourself on the back, and think YOU actually produced and accomplished something of worth.

No thanks.

Kevin

Why do so many people turn to Government to solve problems?

If you think health care is expensive now, just wait until it's "free."

Those who look to government to solve all their problems get exactly what they deserve. So many people criticize government as being completely inept, and yet it tends to be those very same people who then turn around and want that same government to solve all their problems. If history has taught us one thing, it's government doesn't do a very good job at most things. We should only use big, federal, bureaucratic government to do those things it absolutely must do (national defense, etc.).

I'm all for helping our children, but I certainly don't look to the most inefficient entity known to man to do it...government. Those who truly care about children wouldn't either.

A better way.

Kevin

Are You Ready for "Hillary Health Care?"

I live in a very nice part of San Diego. We have a US Post Office here, just down the street from my home. Their hours of operation are from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM, Monday through Friday, and closed on Saturday and Sunday. If you get there at 3:25 PM, you'll find a red rope to keep you from getting in line, because at EXACTLY 3:30, the "gate" comes crashing down. If you have a long transaction, such as opening a PO Box, you better get there early, or they will tell you to come back on another day if it's too close to closing. These people are VERY serious about closing not one second after 3:30!

The other day, I visited this post office during their normal operating hours (not an easy task, given how limited their hours are ;-). The "gate" was closed, and there was a sign taped to it, saying their computers were down, so they couldn't remain open. No one could be found, just a closed gate and the notes. I took a photo...

Click Photo to Enlarge

Now, get this...I returned to this post office and it remained closed, with the above sign showing, for at least THREE DAYS! It could have been longer, but I personally noticed it this way for three days.

For those of you looking to the Federal Government to take care of your health and medical needs, be ready for this type of "service." This is what you can expect from Government-run monopolies. There are no free-market competitive forces to keep things in check.

What private retail business is only open from 9:00 AM to 3:30 PM, and closed all day on Saturday and Sunday? What business would run you and your money out of their store if you get there five minutes before closing? What business would completely shut down for THREE DAYS because their computers were down? None that I know of, and if they exist, they will soon be put out of business by competition.

The average home in the city where I live is over $3 million. If this is the type of postal service we get, I can only imaging what will happen if Hillary Clinton gets her hands on my health and medical care.

If you think health care is costly now, just wait and see how expensive it gets when it's "free."

For a better way, read this.

Kevin

Blowing the Whistle on Fraud

As most of you know, every year, corrupt organizations cheat the federal government out of billions of taxpayer's dollars. What you may not know, however, is that the US Government has a website where anyone can confidentially report fraud and abuse of the Federal Government.

http://www.governmentfraud.us

From this site:

If you suspect any person or company is defrauding the government, don't be afraid to report it. Not only is it is the right thing to do, you may be entitled to a significant reward often totaling millions of dollars. The most common types of fraud include; Medicare & Medicaid Fraud, Pharmaceutical Fraud, Nursing Home Fraud, Defense Contractor Fraud, Contractor Fraud, Customs Fraud, Fraudulent Loans & Grants and IRS Tax Fraud.

Recently, I made use of this form, and reported a company who I believe exercised fraud on a Federally Insured bank, trying to extort money from them under false pretenses. This is, of course, a violation of Federal law. I didn't do this for any type of reward, but to see justice served.

It's not right that your tax dollars should go to compensate dishonest and corrupt individuals. When someone steals from the Federal Government, they're stealing from you and other honest, law-abiding citizens. Blowing the whistle on those who would defraud you and I out of our tax dollars, providing evidence, testifying if needs be, and seeing these criminals brought to justice, is the right thing to do.

Kevin