October 12, 2008 10:23:58 AM CDT
(Newser) – By a huge margin, the Senate today passed a $300 billion bill to help homeowners avoid foreclosure—but the White House vows to veto it unless the House makes changes, the AP reports. The bill will let struggling homeowners reinsure at cheaper rates backed by the government, but President President Bush says that nearly $4 billion in the bill, slated to fix up foreclosed homes, benefits lenders, not owners.
A Bush spokeswoman urged House lawmakers to strip the provision “so that they can get a housing bill to the president that he could sign right away.” But many in the House, particularly black congressmen, see the money as essential to revitalizing affected communities. Barack Obama urged Bush to pass the measure "along with a second emergency stimulus package to jumpstart the economy."
Source Associated Press
Feb 27, 08 11:56 AM CST Congressional Democrats are pushing for new bankruptcy rules to help homeowners suffering from the mortgage crisis, the Washington Post reports—though the White House says it will veto any plan that could hurt lenders and send mortgage rates upward. Democrats say enough Republicans from hard-hit states could join them in allowing some bills to hit the Senate floor for debate. More »
Feb 26, 08 3:15 AM CST President Bush insisted yesterday to the Republican Governors Association that Americans will elect another Republican to fill his shoes in November, AP reports. "And I don't want the next Republican president to be lonely," Bush said. "And that's why we got to take the House, retake the Senate, and make sure our states are governed by Republican governors." More »
Nov 16, 07 4:29 AM CST The House has passed a bill intended to protect mortgage borrowers by imposing stricter regulations on lenders. But it's unlikely it will become law before the new year, given the Senate's problem passing a less controversial bill that also aims to mitigate the subprime lending crisis. The House measure bars lenders from steering people into expensive loans they might not be able to pay. More »
Sep 20, 07 3:28 PM CDT President Bush threatened to veto a children's health insurance bill today, knocking Democrats he said were politicizing the issue by moving too far toward universal health care. The Senate last month passed an expanded "S-chip" program that would cover an additional 4 million children currently uninsured, the New York Times reports. The expanded program would require an additional $35 billion. More »
Aug 2, 07 6:38 PM CDT The ethics reform bill, which tightens restrictions on congressional pet projects and lobbyist dealings, easily cleared the Senate today. The final vote was 83-14, with all of those opposed Republicans. Critics say the bill won't go far enough to curb earmark spending, the AP reports, but Dianne Feinstein praised the package as "the most sweeping reform bill since Watergate." More »
George W. Bush • Senate • House of Representatives • mortgage crisis • Federal Housing Administration • bill • Bush veto
