Tired of the run away spending in Washington? Concerned we are spending ourselves off a cliff?  Me too, that’s why I feature this regular installment on YouCut,  an interactive way for YOU the taxpayer to get involved in the budget process.  YouCut allows you, the citizen, to cast an online vote to let your voice be heard by stopping the runaway spending in Washington.

You can read all my previous YouCut posts here. 

These are the latest choices for cutting spending - your voice does count!  Click on this page to cast your vote.

Terminate the Neighborhood Stabilization Program

Approximate $1 billion in savings

Created in 2008, this program provides funding to state and local government to buy and rehabilitate foreclosed homes. Congress has appropriated $7 billion for the program, including $2 billion in the Obama Administration’s stimulus bill. This program encourages government purchase of private homes and some critics have argued that it does not benefit at-risk homeowners facing foreclosure, and may instead create perverse incentives for banks and other lenders to foreclose on troubled borrowers – arguably worsening the housing crisis. This proposal would terminate the last installment of funding which was included in the financial regulation bill in the last Congress, savings taxpayers up to $1 billion.

Terminate the HAMP Program

The Obama Administration’s signature anti-foreclosure effort, the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), has failed to help a sufficient number of distressed homeowners to justify the program’s cost. According to the Administration, HAMP was supposed to help 4 million homeowners. Instead, only 521,630 loans have been permanently modified under this program and the re-default rate is high. Far from helping at-risk homeowners, HAMP has actually made many worse off, according to the non-partisan Inspector General’s report. The Inspector General also concluded that the program “"continues to fall dramatically short of any meaningful standard of success."

To date, the Administration has spent approximately $840 million of the $29 billion earmarked for HAMP from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). This proposal would prohibit the government from incurring any additional obligations under this program, thus generating significant savings for taxpayers.

Terminate the Emergency Mortgage Relief Program

Last year, Congress reauthorized the long-expired Emergency Homeowners’ Relief Act of 1975 and provided $1 billion to authorize the Department of Housing and Urban Development to make emergency mortgage relief payments to homeowners facing foreclosure for up to 12 months, with a possible extension of another 12 months. These loans will serve to increase the amount of the borrower’s indebtedness, so a borrower who is unable to pay back either the original amount of principal or the additional loans made under the program will be worse off in the long run. This proposal would terminate this program generating savings for taxpayers.

Submit Your Ideas for Spending Cuts

YouCut is designed to defeat the permissive culture of spending in Congress. After you vote on this week's choices, we need your help in identifying which program and spending cuts should be featured on this website each week. Click the link above to submit your ideas!