LAS VEGAS ? President Barack Obama flew into America?s foreclosure capital Monday in a desperate bid to revive the housing market ? and to make Mitt Romney pay for embracing a hands-off approach to the crisis during a recent debate here.
But Obama?s latest plan to reconcile the economy?s most irreconcilable economic issue and help millions of underwater homeowners drew mixed reviews even before Air Force One?s landing gear hit the tarmac in a ravaged metropolis where roughly one in 118 homes is in foreclosure.
Continue ReadingObama talks housing market in Las Vegas
Audio: Mason on Obama trip
Romney gave Obama a political opening while in Vegas for a GOP presidential debate, saying that ?the right course is to let markets work.? Yet Obama?s own record of ineffectual fixes may prevent him from fully capitalizing on the missteps of opponents.
On Monday, administration officials announced they are moving to scrap restrictions that prevented millions of troubled mortgage-holders from taking advantage of existing programs designed to reduce monthly payments.
The key to the new approach, hashed out by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan in recent weeks: allowing homeowners to refinance at lower rates regardless of how far their home values have fallen, while reducing or eliminating prohibitive refinancing fees.
?Obama is clearly directing this at Romney and the other Republicans, and they have left themselves open,? said Las Vegas Sun columnist and TV host Jon Ralston, after listening to Obama speak at a hard-hit Hispanic neighborhood in the city.
?The problem for Obama is that his new plan, like the old one, probably won?t be enough to help people here. ? You?re talking about houses that were worth $210,000 in 2007 and are now going for $70,000,? he added.
The fact that previous administration attempts have fallen short ?is no excuse for crossing your arms and saying ?no? to Americans who need help now,? Obama said after spending about 20 minutes sitting around a kitchen table with the Bonilla family, who could benefit from a measure in the $447 billion American Jobs Act to rehabilitate vacant or abandoned homes. ?Folks out here don?t have the time or the patience for it.?
The president spoke from a platform set up on La Placita Avenue, a quiet residential street in the unincorporated town of Sunrise Manor, an area eight miles east of the Strip hit hard by the collapse of housing prices. The crowd that gathered was predominantly Hispanic, in a neighborhood of small, detached two-story pueblo-style houses with tan stucco walls and red brick roofs. Some of the units in the subdivision appeared vacant, with the detritus of suburban life ? broken stone lawn gnomes, browning plants, old furniture ? littering front yards and backyards.
Most of Obama?s recent speeches have been tightly focused on job creation, and Obama kicked off his three-day Western swing with a fundraiser at the Bellagio, on the Strip, railing against the Senate GOP for blocking his $35 billion plan to forestall state and local layoffs of teachers and first responders.
?Their leader, Mitch McConnell, said that ? and I?m going to make sure I quote this properly ? saving the jobs of teachers and cops and firefighters was just ? I quote ? ?a bailout.? A bailout!? Obama shouted.
pete seeger penn state football bernie madoff itunes match itunes match gazelle gazelle
No comments:
Post a Comment