House looks to cut $62 billion for distressed homeowners, properties

The Christian Science Monitor reports:

Is it worth spending $50 million in taxpayer dollars to help 42 families refinance their underwater mortgages? House Republicans said no – opening a new front this week in their bid to rein in deficits by cutting funds from programs they deem to be failing.
First on the chopping block: Eight billion dollars set aside for the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) Refinance Program – one of four of President Obama’s signature housing-relief programs slated for cuts. With more than 11 million homeowners facing foreclosure, Republicans argued that a program that so far has helped 42 families amounts to using taxpayer dollars to pick winners and losers.
Moreover, it’s financed by the Troubled Asset Relief Program, which Republicans campaigned during the midterms to end. Recent Treasury estimates signal that most of the expected losses to taxpayers from TARP are coming from housing programs, not the bank bailout.

What a scam.