“When the government buys up empty homes, it’s only helping lenders and speculators, not the people who need help.” - Inspired by President Bush

President Bush has continually expressed his opposition to a housing bill that proposes to include $4 billion in grants for local governments to buy and refurbish foreclosed properties.

In a speech at the Economic Club of New York a few months ago, he stated: “The temptation is for people, in their attempt to limit the number of foreclosures, to put bad law in place. I'm deeply concerned about law and regulation that will make it harder for the markets to recover -- and when they recover, make it harder for this economy to be robust.”

He went on to talk about the housing bill specifically, stating: “One bill in Congress would provide $4 billion for state and local governments to buy up abandoned and foreclosed homes. You know, I guess this sounds like a good idea to some, but if your goal is to help Americans keep their homes, it doesn't make any sense to spend billions of dollars buying up homes that are already empty. As a matter of fact, when you buy up empty homes you're only helping the lenders, or the speculators. The purpose of government ought to be to help the individuals, not those who speculated in homes. This bill sends the wrong signal to the market."

Although, he finally gave his support for the bill yesterday on the advice of his Treasury secretary, the sentiments he has expressed unto now indicate that he likely still holds deep reservations against the bill in its current form.