Vote looms in Congress on housing rescue plan (Reuters)

By Kevin Drawbaugh 3 minutes ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A major rescue package for the U.S. housing market is scheduled to come to a vote in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, with lawmakers agreeing final language late on Tuesday and congressional analysts putting a $25-billion potential price tag on a new provision. Designed to bolster Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the nation's biggest mortgage companies, the provision drafted by the Bush administration was added to a bill that has been in the works for months. The overall measure now has wide, bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate, said Massachusetts Democratic Rep. Barney Frank, chief architect of the legislation. The added provision, proposed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, would give beleaguered Fannie and Freddie access to new, government... [read full story]