On the recordMarch 10, 2011
I am here to support the bill to terminate the FHA Refinance Program. This bill is not about programs that work. It's not about programs that have continually helped to create jobs and to help our faltering economy and our laggard job growth. This bill is about a failed government program, because the FHA refinance program that went into effect in September of 2010 has failed to work properly. By the end of December of last year, of 2010, a mere 22 mortgages had been refinanced through the program at a cost of $50 million. That's an average of $2.3 million per mortgage. The conclusion is very, very clear. The program does not work and it's wasteful. We are in an economic crisis. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Federal Government is set to run a deficit for fiscal year 2011 of $1.5 trillion. If serious steps are not taken right now, we are set and ready to see in 2012 another trillion dollars added to our deficit. This river of red ink is not sustainable. Americans are coming to grips with the fact that, if nothing is done, we will be the first generation in American history to leave for our children a legacy of insurmountable debt and economic stagnation.
