Carol E. Lee & Kasie Hunt
Politico.com
2/19/2010
While he’s visiting the state with the highest foreclosure rate in the nation Friday, President Barack Obama plans to announce a proposal to take $1.5 billion in funds originally designed to assist ailing banks and instead use the money to help the hardest-hit states stem the housing crisis, according to senior administration officials.
The proposal to redistribute money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program will benefit the five states with the steepest declines in home prices: Nevada, California, Florida, Arizona and Michigan.
Obama’s announcement comes as he’s in Nevada to boost Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who is facing a tough reelection campaign this year. The proposal, which targets homeowners, is likely an attempt to quell some of the voter rage over taxpayer-funded bailouts of banks, a sentiment that runs across Nevada, where the unemployment rate is 13 percent.
“As we think about the actions that the government takes here,” a senior administration official said, “there are some things we can do; there are a whole lot of things that we can’t and shouldn’t do with taxpayer money. And I think that getting that balance right is something that the president will talk a little bit about tomorrow.”
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