Legislators are once again trying to stop Jim Rokakis from saving people’s homes
This week’s Screaming Into The Void award goes to Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis. For the past year, he’s been using a surplus in delinquent tax collections — known as DTAC — to keep some county families from losing their homes in foreclosure.
Rokakis’ program offers families $3,000 loans, but they don’t go to just anybody. In order to qualify, people must show they can keep making their payments…
This article appears in Mar 26 – Apr 1, 2008.
Oh yea, helping local people with their own money is definitely prohibited by most governments. It shows how inefficient governments can be, when they feel the need to take away power from local levels to grow more centralized government. The consequences are usually people no longer having the power to combat economic crises, like this treasurer giving loans to homeowners in danger of foreclosure.
Maybe if this program is taken away, the local governments can start printing their own currencies and loaning money that way. It’s worked in other communities across the country to stimulate the economies of counties and cities.