[SBeck]

Compassionate conservatism or vote buying (with our tax payer dollars)? You decide.

[max61]

Nope, no liberal President here.

---max

[abclily]

This is wonderful news! There's nothing like the pride of ownership to turn a welfare-minded citizen into a self-reliant citizen.

[winodog]

Three quarters of whites own their own homes? I find that hard to believe. I bet if you looked at mexicans who have been in this country longer then ten years, the numbers would be close to whitey.

If not for LBJ's great society black home ownership would be much higher as well. After all you cant own a home if you want to collect welfare, food stamps, have your apartment bill paid, etc, etc.

A friend of mine needs a liver transplant and he cannot work to support his family because of his illness. He had to sell his home because he was denied benifits because of the home ownership bit. Meanwhile his neighbor just down the street rents a house, collects welfare, rent is paid and they drive a cadillac.(he drives a old beater) He rants and raves about this every time I see him.

[gorush]

The Contitutional authority for the Feds to do this must be hidden in the eminations coming from one of those pesky penumbras that I always have so much trouble recognizing.

[thepitts]

President Bush pitched a plan to make it easier for black people and Hispanics to become homeowners through government incentives and grants to help on down payments.

All the new bush supporters from mexico are going to need someplace to live.

conservative my ass.

[Twodees]

Clinton's third term is getting hard to take here.

[Cable225]

Compassionate conservatism or vote buying

I think it's a little of both, and as usual, another political salvo fired by GWB.

It's got to be difficult for Gephart, Daschle et al to sell minorities on how the Republicans hate them when the other guy is trying to help you buy a house. And while I agree that we really don't need any more grants, tax breaks for builders and construction companies, or for that matter, tax breaks for anybody is always a good thing.

He's already got the Dems in knots trying to figure out how to attack the welfare/marriage plan. Can't wait to see how they plan to attack this.

"Don't fall for it, stay in the slums!" Yeah, that's sure to be a winner.

[ikka]

Well, the ones that don't already have a home could try a) showing up at work on time, b) studying harder, c) not dressing like a gangsta, d) save the money they spend on lowered suspensions and shiny rims towards a down payment.

[KDD]

Already posted HERE.

Doesn't seem to bother most of the conservatives here. Must be why there are so few comments on either thread.

[Mr Rogers]

Please tell me this piece came from the Onion? It is satire, isn't it?

I gave $700 to Bush's campaign - first time I've given a candidate anything. And while I hate to admit it, so far all I've gotten back is permission to lick his boots.

I think blacks tend to own homes in lower percentages than whites due to income differences. The solution? Stop de-valuing an education, stay out of prison, get a job, and work to make enough money to buy a house. (BTW - at 44, I don't own a house...)

If there was reason to believe blacks didn't own homes because vicious whites wouldn't sell to them, then there would be reason for the government to get involved. In the absence of any evidence, this is just using my taxes to buy houses for people who don't pay taxes. And that is wrong.

I've gone from a hard-core GWB fan to not knowing if I'll vote in 2004. But I don't think Rove cares - he figures he can buy more votes than he'll lose from conservatives. Maybe he's right - but I have no respect for a Republican who betrays principle like that!

[poet]

A typical liberal approach to a problem: Throw money at a problem and it will go away. Forget cause and effect, just throw money at it. Don't these people realize poverty is a state of mind and until people change their minds, money will only exacerbate the problem.

Another program that will end up costing BILLIONS of our dollars with 20% of us paying for it thru higher taxes in the future.

As for those of you who support this man with blind loyalty , I remind you that the dem's domestic programs are being implemented, so, please tell me where there is a difference between the parties.

He's backsliding on his own doctrine on terrorism also.

He is creating a incredible voting block with all these handouts. Who would be foolish enough to vote against their own paycheck? Give people who need it a hand, not a handout and make them pay it back when they get on their feet.

Once the "passion of patriotism" subsides, this man will have nothing, but, what the hey, I wear a tin foil hat.

[Movemout]

I think some of the posters above have it right. This is just another social program that will fail. I hate to see my tax dollars wasted on this nonsense. Home ownership is motivating when you have to foot the bills on your own. You tend to take care of things that break or need maintenance. Low income subsidies are no substitute for self-reliance or pride in one's accomplishments. This article brings to mind all of the federally subsidized housing projects in numerous cities across the Nation. I have yet to see one of these housing projects that is maintained by its occupants to meet minimum standards of repair. They are uniformly slovenly, crime ridden, rat infested, and vandalized by their own residents. It wasn't their money that went into building and maintaining these apartments. GWB has been contradictory in his policy efforts. I like it that Gore is not POTUS but GWB misses the mark often. One moment he is conservative, the next a socialist.

[SR71A]

This is just another scam to bleed off billions of tax dollars to well-connected "developers" and political cronies of both parties. Nothing compares to real estate, "urban development", and mortgage money scams, if you want to steal billions and get away with it.

Remember the S&L "scandal"? That was over $300 billion, mostly in real estate scams. Remember that $59 billion dollars that HUD still can't account for?

All of it paid for with your and my tax money. Who benefited? Hint: it wasn't Democrats or Republicans, it was both. The only difference betweens the Rs and the Ds anymore is the same difference there is between the Gotti family and the Bonanno family. It's still organized crime, IMHO. Where do I sign up? When do I get a chance to play?

[Bernard]

The headline is misleading - it talks about "low-income", while the first sentence of the article profiles a target audidence.

There used to be a concept in this country, I can't remember the name of it, where private businesses could make a profit by providing goods ands services to people. Now, it takes special credits and tax breaks. What was that called?

[Torie]

Well, if I had to choose spending money on the farm bill, or this one, I choose this one. If you accept that the government is in the business of making transfer payments, this one has some merit. It's cost isn't that high, it helps a lot of folks, and it encourages home ownership, particularly in worn out neighborhoods. The farm bill on the other hand, tends to take from the more modest income many, and give it to the higher income few - sort of a Robin Hood in reverse program.

[thirst4truth]

The American Dream down payment program is a cool thing for people that have good credit but not enough for down payment and closing costs to buy a house. You know with 3% to 5% lender programs out there all you need is 3k-5k on a $100,000 home. But then they find out that closing costs on that same home are also about $3,000.

Now the scam on the American Dream program is it is not 'free' it comes out of the seller's pocket. At closing, the down payment, the 3K-5K, is deducted from the sellers money. So alarm bells go off, why do they need this grant money? For pencil heads to administer the program!!!

[Righty1]

It is clear that not only is he not a conservative, he has also never been a landlord.

[Rowdee]

Easiest thing to do is spend someone elses' money!

When I see these bleeding heart socialists digging in their pockets, whether its Larry "We don't pay enough in taxes" King to George 'taxpayer funded stadium so I can be a multi-millionaire' Bush, to provide low income housing assistance because of their own damn 'compassion' and not some government forced down a citizen's throat concept of compassion, I'll be interested in reading it and helping.

[Flyer]

Most grants would be less than $5,000.

If you can't save up five grand, you don't have any business buying a home.

[Alan Chapman]

Zoning and environmental laws have already strangled the housing market and caused a shortage. This has caused an increase in the cost of homes because the supply cannot meet the demand. Giving free government money to people so they can bid against others will further drive up the cost of homes making it even more difficult for people to afford one.