Housing Rescue Bill Nears Finish Line
The housing rescue bill appears to be in limbo. Once it passes the Senate, the Senate version faces substantial opposition from the House of Representatives. The White House also is still threatening veto.
Roadblocks include Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the Financial Services Committee chairman who won House approval of his version in May. He has made it clear he doesn’t plan to accept the Senate proposal without changes.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is working to quell a revolt in the House by representatives who insist that housing tax breaks and any spending in the package must be paid for with tax increases or spending cuts to prevent an increase in the deficit.
That means rewriting a $14.5 billion array of housing tax breaks, which falls $2.4 billion short of being fully offset.
There is also a push by some lawmakers for far more money for fixing up foreclosed properties. The Congressional Black Caucus also opposes language in the Senate bill that bars the FHA from insuring mortgages obtained by borrowers whose down payments were paid by the seller.
Source: The Associated Press, Julie Hirschfeld Davis (07/09/08)