By Bill Wilson — This latest White House scheme to bail out borrowers with mortgage principal reductions using taxpayer fundsis nothing more than a cynical election year ploy. This time, the goal is to build a constituency of borrowers underwater on their mortgages with the hope that they might — emphasis on might — be able to get some relief.
Meanwhile, the Federal Housing Finance Administration under Edward DeMarco has thus far resisted such a bailout on the grounds that it would result in billions of losses to GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — putting taxpayers on the hook. The Obama solution? Take the money out of another pot of taxpayer money, give it to Fannie and Freddie, and pretend it did not add to the deficit.
All without any vote in Congress. This is yet another egregious abuse of executive power by Obama and Congress must demand accountability, and rein in these bailout programs once and for all. The House Appropriations committee should act immediately to defund TARP and any related bailout programs, and the House Oversight Committee should investigate these existing programs for any other wastes of taxpayer money.
Bill Wilson is the President of Americans for Limited Government. You can follow Bill on Twitter at @BillWilsonALG.
