President Obama, using the medium of radio and the Internet, is asking Americans to push Congress to pass his new homeowner relief program where a tax is imposed on financial companies.
He believes the housing crisis is the reason why the recovery from the economic recession has been slow. In discussing his difficulty in getting the plan approved by Congress, the President said, “Right now, there are more than 10 million homeowners in this country who, because of a decline in home prices that is no fault of their own, owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. It is wrong for anyone to suggest that the only option for struggling, responsible homeowners is to sit and wait for the housing market to hit bottom. I don’t accept that. None of us should.”
His proposal, rejected by Congress twice, allows homeowners that are current on their payments to save $ 3000 every year by refinancing into lower interest loans offered by the Federal Housing Administration. Also since Congress will have to pay for the housing plan, the money will come from taxing financial companies with more than $ 50 billion in assets.
Mitt Romney, on the other hand, wants to take a “wait and see” and let the housing market hit the bottom.
At another level altogether, the inability of Congress to reach a consensus on other issues such as jobs proposals and payroll tax cuts continues while unemployment has stayed stagnant and a lack of certainty hover over small businesses and middle class families.