The Obama administration on Wednesday detailed its latest plan to help millions of homeowners refinance their mortgages to today's historically-low rates.
The plan, which requires approval by Congress, would allow borrowers who are current on their mortgage to save an average of $3,000 a year by refinancing into loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The plan is estimated to cost between $5 billion and $10 billion. To pay for it, President Obama said he does not plan to add to the deficit. Instead, he wants to impose a fee on large banks -- a move that may have a hard time making it past members of Congress, who have rejected the notion of taxing the banks in the past.
"May" have a hard time? I foresee the plan being blocked in the Senate, and then Republicans turning around and presenting a program in the House about 1% as effective at the cost of, say, all Planned Parenthood funding, giving 99% of the program's money to the banks and including a rider that overturns all passed legislation from 2009-2011 plus another clause that gives the GOP complete control of all humanity in perpetuity, and then they'll proceed in calling President Obama an America-hating extremist for not giving them everything they want.
That's how this game works, and it goes triple for an election year. Meanwhile, homeowners will continue to suffer, and both the rabid left and the rabid right will proclaim that President Obama hasn't put forward any effort to help underwater mortgage owners whatsoever.
Sad, but true.
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