Bush May Sit On Housing Crisis Bill
The chance of an election year solution package is growing dimmer as Bush and Congress cannot seem to agree about how to rescue the housing market. Bush, threatening to veto the Barney Frank bill because it would help undeserving people, he may just sit on the whole mess until he leaves the presidency. “We are committed to a good housing bill that will help folks stay in their house, as opposed to a housing bill that will reward speculators and lenders,” Bush said at the White House after meeting with House Republican leaders.
Frank’s measure, directed at preventing foreclosures, says that the government must step in to insure $300 billion in new mortgages for homeowners facing foreclosures. The House is expected to vote on it Thursday.
The White House calls the plan a burdensome bailout that would open taxpayers to too much risk.
Some of the arguments are:
1. Borrowers could refinance their homes into new loans only if their lenders agree to take hefty losses on the original mortgages. They would have to share their revenue from the future sale or refinancing of their homes with the FHA for helping them now.
2. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Wednesday called the plan too broad.
3. The bill that would send $15 billion to states to buy and fix foreclosed homes only benefits builders and lenders.
4. Frank said that measure was necessary to prevent neighborhoods pocked with abandoned, foreclosed properties from sliding into blight.
And the shining statement from Rep. Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the majority leader said it best. “Democrats have a plan to stabilize the housing market and the economy as a whole; President Bush has a plan to sit on his hands for nine more months.”
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