Even the Canadians care about FHA reforms… The folks over at CEP news published a recent report on the recent comments made by Treasury Secretary Paulson. Here is an excerpt:
He noted that in his travels around the country in recent weeks, one concern he heard repeatedly was reduced availability of mortgages. Paulson said he and others at Treasury have been pushing Congress to pass an FHA modernization bill that would provide financing for roughly 250,000 borrowers, and would raise loan caps on jumbo loans, those mortgages above the conforming loan limit.
The primary focus remains “keeping the economy as strong as possible as we weather this housing correction,” Paulson said.
In a question and answer session following his speech, Paulson said President Geroge W. Bush has not yet settled on an economic stimulus plan. He also said that permanent tax cuts would give financial markets certainty, but acknowledged it is difficult to get Congress to make tax cuts permanent.
Paulson also reiterated comments that the housing slump has not spread to the broader economy and that the housing market downturn still has “further to run.”