Morning Bell: The Dodd-Frank Bailout is Already Here

Conn Carroll / August 12, 2010

On July 21, when President Barack Obama signed the Dodd-Frank financial regulation bill, he promised: “There will be no more taxpayer-funded bailouts. Period.” How long will this Obama promise last? Well, The New York Times reports today that  “the Obama administration on Wednesday pumped $3 billion into programs intended to stop the unemployed from losing their homes,” including a program announced by the Department of Housing and Urban Development that “will draw on $1 billion authorized by the new financial overhaul law.” That’s right. The Dodd-Frank “no more taxpayer-funded bailouts forever” bill is not even a month old, and already President Obama is using it to turn your tax dollars into yet another bailout.

And why is the Obama administration turning to Dodd-Frank bailout funds so soon after passage? Because its original mortgage bailout plan, the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), has been a complete failure. Don’t take our word for it. Here are the words (pdf) of Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program Neil Barofsky:

Unfortunately, HAMP continues to struggle to achieve its original stated objective, to help millions of homeowners avoid foreclosure “by reducing monthly payments to sustainable levels.” Despite a seemingly ever increasing array of HAMP-related initiatives designed to encourage participation in the program, the number of homeowners being helped through permanent modifications remains anemic, with fewer than 400,000 ongoing permanent modifications…and HAMP has not put an appreciable dent in foreclosure filings. Indeed, the number of trial and permanent modifications that have been canceled substantially exceeds the number of homeowners helped through permanent modifications. (more…)