Why Government Programs Failed

The Obama administration’s initial foreclosure-prevention programs, launched in early 2009, were intended to help 7 million to 9 million people. So far, they’ve aided about 2 million, and not all of those are out of foreclosure danger.


Programs begun later have also faltered. One intended to help at least 500,000 has helped just a few hundred a year after its launch. Another initiative to extend $1 billion to help the jobless or underemployed avoid foreclosure ended in September, obligating less than half of its funds. The unused money went back to the U.S. Treasury.

As of Nov. 30, the government had spent just $2.8 billion of the $46 billion it had declared in 2009 that it would spend to help resolve the housing crisis, the Treasury Department says. More has been committed, but ultimately a only fraction will be spent, according to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office.

Since 2009 approximately 2.5 million homes have been lost to foreclosure. An additional 4 million are in the foreclosure process or seriously delinquent, while housing and unemployment issues continue.

Every program that was proposed to help troubled homeowners has fallen short or failed outright. Not even one has been successful. I've yet to see any efforts to help the unemployed find employment. The administration has somehow created a way in which large corporations realize that they can be more profitable with fewer blue collar employees.

The administration’s programs were destined for failure by design flaws, their reliance on a mortgage industry overwhelmed by a historic collapse in home prices, and a brutal extended housing downturn. Nor could they overcome the interests of mortgage investors unwilling to surrender profits and mortgage servicers with greater financial incentives to foreclose on loans than to modify them..

"There was nowhere near the effort to help Main Street as there was to help the banks,” says former senator Ted Kaufman, D-Del., who chaired a congressional oversight panel that oversaw $475 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds. Most of that went to banks and the auto industry.

Shaun Donovan, secretary of Housing and Urban Development, said in a recent interview that some administration programs “haven’t reached as many people as we originally targeted.”

Those shortfalls are glaringly evident.

Welcome to Your Future

Has reality TV become so much a part of our lives that it now affects the way we interpret things that are in fact, reality?


First let me clarify that I'm not a big reality TV junkie and I'm not big on playing video games like Angry Birds or Black Ops or Guitar Hero etc. What strikes me as alarming is the seemingly overwhelming attitude of so many to "fake it 'til we make it" and an apparent level of success that's attained in real life by doing just that.



We ( Americans ) have a 3 ring circus in Washington that is "large and in charge" basically because Americans put them there. They've sold us all on how they could fix things, like the economy, unemployment, war, health care and housing. The circus that performs for us every day is so entertaining that I have trouble deciding which act to watch. Congress, Senate or The White House!

The enormous malfunction of our government is a debacle, I think we all get that. Americans have made some seriously bad choices by buying into the slick "tell 'em what they wanna' hear" philosophies that we've allowed to so negatively affect our lives, our country and our futures. I wont attempt to analyze the characters that play various continuing roles in the daily standoffs. I'm not going to try to convince anyone that there's a simple fix to the mess in Washington that has spread like a contagion into every city and state in the country. I have to say however that I've never seen any reality show challenge that comes close to emulating the contempt and deceit that the current Congress, Senate and Administration in Washington D.C. spew upon each other in the name of the American people.

The year 2011 will certainly be memorable for so many reasons that I'd rather forget.

We have deep seeded problems at the core of our economic collapse that seem to be afterthoughts, if anything of the conflicts within our government. Jobs and housing have been, from the beginning and remain the biggest problems facing any economic recovery this country may some day attain. Until we begin repairing the damage that led to the collapse we will continue to live in our own futures and in our children's futures. Sometimes I just sit back and think "I don't get it". But then I'll snap back to reality and realize that it's not that complicated. If we just didn't buy into the fakes in the beginning, if we just didn't trust the slick talk and promises it would be simple. Fact is Americans did and it's a mess now. Welcome to your future.

George Sinacori  rebuygeorge@yahoo.com

Can Housing & the Economy Recover?

"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive."

The American economy is hurting with :

-a housing market that barely has a pulse
-extremely high unemployment
-a government swallowing up massive losses from bad mortgages
-billions in bailout money for " too big to fail " shark infested corporations
-banks unwilling too help troubled underwater borrowers
-banks unwilling to help struggling small business owners

All at the expense of the American taxpayer.

Is the tangled web beyond repair ? When do you draw the line and say it's time to start fresh ?




We've allowed our controllers way too much control. Our American dream, our pride, our independence and dignity have been compromised. Yet the dance continues. The song remains the same.

I can think of lots more cliche's while the politics and posturing continue at the expense of hard working poor and middle class Americans struggling to stay afloat.

What would it take to right the ship?

Perhaps it's time to begin to understand that we are entrenched in a system that doesn't work anymore. At least not for most Americans.

The opportunities to address the deterioration of the housing market should have been the number one item on the agenda in heading off the financial crises. We were once a nation dependant on housing, we now are struggling to survive without it. Home ownership which was a brass ring has become a nightmare for many American families. Opportunities for those who may be in a position to buy a home are presently endless. With so many underwater borrowers it becomes a challenge to find the few that are solvent and are wanting to sell. Folks with equity in their homes aren't terribly inclined to compete with the low ball prices of the foreclosure down the street or the neighbors short sale.

Owning a home in America will surely be a privilege in coming years. Even a status symbol much like it was when I was a boy growing up in New York City. Mom and Dad had six of us and we were renters until I was about 12 years old. It didn't mean much to me, but my father was probably as proud of buying that first house as anything he had done before or after.

Today's financially troubled underwater homeowner is truly only a renter with no equity and an out of touch landlord. After all how can you own a home without equity in it? Banks made bad decisions by tempting borrowers with unrealistic amounts of money based on the banks valuation of the real estate involved. Borrowers responded to relentless marketing and reasoning that they were or could be sitting on a pile of cash. The bank of course had little concern after packaging and selling the loans to investors like government sponsored entities Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac. Today these 2 corporations, after being seized by the government, continued bleeding cash to the tune of $150 billion. Oh by the way "seized by the government" at taxpayer expense. After all, anything the Feds do we pay for don't we?

Banks however continue to flourish and boast about improving stock prices and bottom lines while still paying out lavish bonuses. The criminals who created the mess go unpunished and even rewarded. Just look at Countrywide Home Loans for a shining example of these injustices. That CEO sold to Bank of America and bowed out with a fortune while avoiding any criminal charges.

The tangled web is beyond repair. The country needs fresh ideas with humble heartfelt leadership. Our greatest shortcomings may be that we want to believe in someone and that we go through life with tunnel vision. If America continues trying to fix things that can't be fixed simply because it benefits a few than the majority will continue to struggle as a result and we will evolve into a nation without a middle class affecting everything within it.







George Sinacori
GES Real Estate LLC