Housing Bill Hammers Taxpayers

Combine a housing meltdown with election-year politics and the results were not going to be pretty. Add a crisis in confidence in Washington's favorite quasipublic companies and what we're getting is a rout for taxpayers, especially those who kept their heads during the housing mania. The House yesterday passed a housing bailout by 272-152. The White House has thrown its reservations overboard and is begging to sign this boondoggle, despite the less-than-veto-proof majority. A few brave souls in the Senate are threatening a filibuster, which is where the last hope lies for stripping the most egregious and expensive provisions from this monster. Even conservative estimates by the Congressional Budget Office say the cost for this bailout will run to $41.7 billion, with $16.8 billion offset by higher taxes. No one has any idea... [read full story]