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Speaking of refinancing.....
September 30, 2003

Operating under the delusion that alienating Constitution-believing
conservatives is a good electoral strategy for them, House
Republicans are pushing a new $200 million program to force
taxpayers to make housing down payments for 40,000 low-income
hombuyers. This money will not be a loan, but a grant.

The vote on that legislation, H.R. 1276 will occur tomorrow,
Wednesday, October 1, at 10:00 a.m.

As actual taxpayers know, lenders require a downpayment to ensure
that the buyer has the fiscal discipline, the resources, and the
willingness to continue to make payments month after month. If
H.R. 1276 is passed, the result will be that, a year from now,
40,000 defaulting purchasers will return to the taxpayers -- to you
and me -- in the expectation that we will also pick up their monthly
payments. Why not?

In the bleak panoply of federal programs, few programs have been
more dismal failures than federal housing subsidies. Studies have
consistently shown that it would have been cheaper for the taxpayer
to pay the rent for the "beneficiaries" of federal housing giveaways.

H.R. 1276 is a failure waiting to happen; a pre-ordained disaster
crafted by congressmen who have learned nothing from the dreary
history of federal housing subsidy programs.

Read the H.R. 1276 sales pitch and you will easily see the politics
behind this legislation. Tomorrow morning, your wallet and
principles will be exchanged for votes in the next election. Please
contact your U.S. representative now to ask him to vote "NO" on
H.R. 1276 when it comes up tomorrow morning.