U.S. Housing Aid Winds Down, and Cities Worry

The article focuses on the effects of the Obama administration's withdrawal of its program to buy up mortgage securities, as small town populations such as Elkhart, Indiana become more dependent on government funding. It explains that the government's programs are distorting the market and it is unclear whether the government can cut back without the housing markets going into another tailspin. The special inspector general for the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, Neil Barofsky stated "one difference from the last bubble: taxpayers, rather than banks, are now directly at risk in these new mortgages".