The story of the foreclosure of Long Beach Democrat Laura Richardson’s Sacramento home is a tale of a real estate market gone sour. It is also an illustration of how far many candidates will go to seek elected office, even if it means quite literally mortgaging their own financial future.
While being elevated to Congress in [...]

Bush says he won’t back bill that bails out lenders

By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer May 19, 2008 
WASHINGTON - President Bush, acknowledging the economic “tough times” for many Americans, said Monday that he remains opposed to any homeowner rescue legislation that would be a bailout for lenders.
The president’s comments came as Senate leaders are working on [...]

Immigrants are emerging as among the first victims of a growing wave of home foreclosures in the Washington area as mortgage lending problems multiply locally and across the country.
Nationally, 375,000 high-interest-rate loans were made to Hispanics in 2005, and nearly 73,000 of them are likely to go into foreclosure, said Aracely Panameo, director of Latino [...]

The Department of Housing and Urban Development funds hundreds, if not thousands, of these groups across the country. In October, HUD announced more than $44 million in new housing counseling grants to over 400 state and local efforts. The White House has increased funding for housing counseling by 150 percent since taking office in 2001.
Here’s [...]

House passes broad housing rescue despite veto threat

By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS, Associated Press Writer 
WASHINGTON - The House has passed a housing aid plan to provide $300 billion in refinanced mortgages for struggling homeowners. President Bush says he’ll veto the bill. It passed 266-154 with support from 39 Republicans.
The measure would let debt-ridden homeowners refinance into [...]

Myriad Crises, but Inertia in Official Washington

By CARL HULSE
Published: April 30, 2008
WASHINGTON — Americans are pumping their paychecks into their gas tanks, and the economy is in a stall. Food scarcities threaten governments overseas and spur hoarding at home. Foreclosures are up, home sales are down. Progress in Iraq and Afghanistan is halting.
Despite this confluence [...]

“Many Americans are understandably anxious about issues affecting their pocketbook,” Bush said in a White House news conference, held outdoors in an unseasonably cold and windy Rose Garden. “They’re looking to their elected leaders in Congress for action. Unfortunately, on many of these issues, all they’re getting is delay.”
Capitol Hill’s Democratic leaders said Bush was [...]

Economy weakens further in sales, housing, credit, and jobs

By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer 14 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The country’s economic health deteriorated further in the early spring as shoppers buckled under the strains of the housing and credit debacles and a weaker employment climate.
Manufacturers and others businesses, meanwhile, were walloped by zooming prices for [...]

Democrat blames weak economy on Iraq war

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer 2 hours, 13 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The growing cost to the United States of fighting the war in Iraq “is not only linked to our economic skid, but is a leading cause of it,” a Democratic congressman said Saturday.
Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky [...]

Scant support for Senate housing bill

By ANDREW TAYLOR, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 52 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - The Senate on Thursday passed a bipartisan package of tax breaks and other steps designed to help businesses and homeowners weather the housing crisis. 
The measure passed by an impressive 84-12 vote, but even its supporters acknowledge it’s tilted [...]