Free Republic

SACRAMENTO (AP) - In a state where half the houses for sale cost almost $500,000 and low income means a $95,000 salary in Marin County, the state's affordable housing bank is throwing a new life raft to residents struggling to buy their first homes. That's a fixed-rate, 35-year loan - an alternative to the mortgage industry's conventional 30-year loan - offering buyers interest-only payments the first five years. Though more costly in the long run, it's aimed at those who can't initially afford a full payment, and fear waiting until the state's housing market rises still higher, state housing officials...

A UC Irvine grad hopes to put the dream of owning a home more within reach by cutting property taxes. Freshman Assemblywoman Audra Strickland proposes to give first-time homebuyers a 14-fold increase in the homeowners exemption. Other government officials say the idea may be too complicated and too costly to pass into law. Strickland, 30, who graduated from UC Irvine in 1996 with a political science degree, acknowledges that her bill still needs tinkering. But she believes the problems can be ironed out. "With the prices of houses skyrocketing, this was a way ... more people can own a home,"...

Kerry, Salazar to campaign together in Pueblo Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry is planning his sixth visit to Colorado, this time to hold a rally in Pueblo on Saturday with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Ken Salazar. It will be the first appearance together for Kerry and Salazar. The failure of the two to campaign together has been questioned by Republicans. Political experts say Salazar has been better off going it alone in a state where Republicans and unaffiliated voters each outnumber Democrats. President Bush has campaigned several times with Salazar's Republican rival, Pete Coors, and held a fundraiser. Salazar's spokesman,...

To the rest of the world, our recall election might be a circus -- and they just may be right, according to Republican Party officials. People have fun at a circus -- and California Republicans haven't had this much fun in years. Voters are actually paying attention to the GOP with actor Arnold Schwarzenegger and state Sen. Tom McClintock of Thousand Oaks drawing a combined total of support of nearly 50 percent of voters.The state GOP has suddenly been flooded with interest from the news media, and even from its own members, as it plans its Sept. 12-14 convention in...