proof that gov't intervention works

The Obama administration’s signature programme to help troubled homeowners is struggling to meet its objectives and suffers from a lack of “transparency and accountability,” according to a scathing assessment by the special inspector-general for the financial bailout. The watchdog, which has previously been critical of the Treasury department’s Home Affordable Modification Programme (Hamp), upped... [more]

The Obama administration’s signature programme to help troubled homeowners is struggling to meet its objectives and suffers from a lack of “transparency and accountability,” according to a scathing assessment by the special inspector-general for the financial bailout. The watchdog, which has previously been critical of the Treasury department’s Home Affordable Modification Programme (Hamp), upped its criticism ahead of a Senate finance committee hearing scheduled for Wednesday morning on the progress of the 2008 bailout, which included more than $50bn to aid the stricken US housing market. The report charges that more than a year after Hamp began, the programme has not made an “appreciable dent” in foreclosure filings. The quarterly report also slammed the Treasury department for not providing realistic benchmarks for success of the programme, accusing it of “clinging” to a “meaningless” goal of helping 3m-4m Americans in making trial modifications to their mortgages. Darrell Issa, the California congressman who serves as the top Republican on the House oversight committee, immediately seized on the inspector-general’s report to criticise the Obama administration. “How many more reports will it take for Washington to wake up to the reality that dumping more good money after bad only prolongs and deepens the economic crisis that is costing millions of Americans their jobs and their homes?” http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/80960e92-9473-11df-be4d-00144feab49a.html [less]