9 May 2008
The Democrats try once again to pass a bill that Bush plans to veto. A foreclosure-prevention package has passed in the House but who knows what will happen when it reaches the Senate or the president’s desk if it gets that far. A fair number of Republicans voted for it in the House but the Senate may be a different story. The bill proposes to let the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) insure up to $300 billion in new loans over four years if lenders agree to reduce the mortgage principal. It’s possible that 1.4 million loans may be eligible for such a program. It is estimated that the program would cost taxpayers $1.7 billion but I’d much rather my taxes go for such a program instead of war funding.
It is being called a bailout for lenders and “speculators” but in reality is limited to owner-occupied residents. If it’s a bailout at all, it’s for communities around the country, which will suffer when home values and property taxes go down because of foreclosures. It’s a bit too soon to speculate how republicans in the Senate will react as they know that Bush will try to veto it in it’s current form. This move is a tactic intended to give Republicans more leverage in negotiations. We’ll have to see what the veto king will do if such a bill reaches his desk.
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