Mortgage Rescue Plan Draws Senate Support

[DeSwiss]

Source: AP

Mortgage rescue plan draws Senate support
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer
2 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - A mortgage rescue plan to save hundreds of thousands of homeowners from foreclosure drew overwhelming Senate support, inching toward passage despite Republican objections. The Senate voted 76-10 Monday to advance the bill, a broad array of housing measures including overhauls of the Federal Housing Administration, the Depression-era mortgage insurer, and government-sponsored home loan giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Its centerpiece is a new $300 billion FHA program to allow debt-ridden homeowners who are currently too financially risky to qualify for government-backed loans to refinance into safer, more affordable mortgages. The measure is on track for passage by an overwhelming margin, possibly by week's end. It has survived several test votes in the Senate, repeatedly demonstrating that there's enough support for it to override President Bush's promised veto.

But Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., is blocking its progress because Democratic leaders have refused to allow a vote on attaching an $8 billion package of renewable energy tax breaks. Ensign has said he wants the tax incentives to hitch a ride on the housing measure because it has a good chance of being signed into law by Bush. "This will be the major achievement and accomplishment of this Congress when it comes to dealing with the underlying economic crisis, which is at its heart the foreclosure crisis," said Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., the Banking Committee Chairman who wrote the legislation.

Beyond the Senate, the election-year package still faces a tricky path. The president has said he thinks a deal is possible, but the White House is balking at key portions of the bill, particularly $3.9 billion included for buying and fixing up foreclosed properties. Democrats argue the money is key to preventing neighborhood blight, but most Republicans call it a bailout for lenders who helped cause the mortgage mess.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080708/ap_on_go_co/congress_housing

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- The lenders who helped to cause "this mess" as they describe it, only did what Congress let them do.....
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DeSwiss

[bean fidhleir]

1. "only did what Congress let them do"

Sure, but they didn't have to *do* it.

[DeSwiss]

2. Well, no....

...not unless one is a greedy Repuke, corporate, fascist, pig.

- Then its sort of a given....

[happygoluckytoyou]

3. IN A RELATED STORY...... GOP COUNTERS WITH THIS OFFER----->

"my name is John 'the bush republican' McCunt, and i approve this message. i have 73 houses, which i got from my beer selling hunny after trading in that crippled girl i was stuck with during the lean years. i pulled myself up from my own bootstraps, and i challange every american to do the same. go and find yourself a zillion dollar babe, live off the fatta-the-land... and suck up to the president. just don't get in my way, or i'll fucking run the straight-talk bus right up your ass."