New Jersey Foreclosures Crisis: Chris Christie Not Using $300 Million In Federal Funds To Help Distressed Homeowners, WABC Reports

Gov. Christie sitting on 300 million relief funds

Tea Party folks and so-called conservative Republicans love to drone on and on, draped in the American flag, about their mom, apple pie, and baseball patriotism. They dispense their American Exceptionalism beliefs on every willing set of ears.

 To them, President Obama is anathema to American values -- to state it politely. In their eyes, Obama, as stated by Hank Williams Jr  -- between shots of Jack Daniels --. is a Muslim president who hates farmers, hates the military and hates the USA. 


Little of their selective and irrational rage is directed to both the culprit of their economic woes and the obstructionist of their economic recovery. No, they conveniently overlook or block out that the worst economic meltdown since the Great Depression no only happened on the watch of Bush/Cheney, but the economic turmoil was a result of the deregulation. 

That's correct, the GOP wanted government out of the Free Market and look what happened: not too much government intervention/oversight but too little government caused the Great Recession of 2008.

And as far as GOP obstruction and how they have blocked or stalled the recovery, here's another example reported by the Huffington Post:

Is Chris Christie doing enough to help residents of New Jersey stave off foreclosure? A new report from WABC's Jim Hoffer suggests the answer might be "no."

In 2011, New Jersey accepted $300 million in federal money to start the Homekeeper Program, which would, as its website advertises, promote "neighborhood stability in New Jersey communities by providing financial assistance to eligible homeowners in danger of foreclosure."

New Jersey currently suffers the second-highest foreclosure rate in the nation, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. However, Hoffer reports that more than a year after the Homekeeper Program was launched, the state has doled out only $4 million, of $300 million available, to 498 families -- while nearly 2,000 applicants have been denied.

During a press conference Monday in Long Branch, NJ, Hoffer clashed with Christie over the program's inaction. The governor claimed that more funds hadn't already been allocated because of a court-imposed moratorium on foreclosures. "Our policies were put on hold, waiting to see what the courts were ultimately going to do on foreclosures," Christie said. "And that's why we haven't moved any more quickly than we have already."

Hoffer, however, disputed the legitimacy of that claim: "The moratorium did not stop other states from helping families already facing foreclosure." source