Affordable Housing for Katrina Victims
Posted by Michael Link on May 18, 2007 at 01:51 PM
As you may know, FEMA is asking families who currently live in government provided trailers, including victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, if they want to buy them. It's part of the "Sales to Occupants" program where, according to a press release:
If interested, applicants will sign and return to FEMA a "Notice of Interest in Purchasing Temporary Housing Unit" form. Once FEMA receives a signed notice of interest, FEMA sales managers will begin contacting interested families to provide instructions on the sales process and its requirements. All sales will be handled on a case-by-case basis.
I bring this news up to illustrate the remaining problems surrounding housing in the region, as it's currently at the center of a dispute around a bill that the Democratic-led House of Representatives will debate. The legislation would be a significant step towards providing affordable housing for those Gulf Coast residents.
It's called the Federal Housing Finance Reform Act, and as Speaker Pelosi noted, it would create a fund of "about $450 million per year for five years to promote housing for low-income homeowners and renters. [...] Grants will be distributed around the country through states and tribes for preserving and building affordable housing."
For the first year, the fund would be dedicated to Louisiana and Mississippi. With so many housing problems remaining, this legislation has a good shot at passing. Yet the right-wing Club for Growth has put their weight against the measure and called on members of Congress to gut the fund from the legislation.
Comments (5) «
I am planning to donate today again to the DNC in addition to our Democracy Bonds. It is in appreciation of a chairman who is all for giving the people of the party more voice again. Thanks, Governor Dean.
Also read about an Iraqi's view of what we have done in Iraq. Sad.
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/madfloridian/1319
Oh, big deal so the Katrina victims get to have a trailer....do you have any idea how that compares to the VALUE of what they had before? It's not like getting a new house that they can sell to someone else or take out a mortgage on it to send a kid to school or whatever...it's a joke -- trailers LOSE value like a car; when before these people had a real live (maybe not the taj mahal) but a real live HOUSE!
I would think they'd GIVE those people the trailers. What are they going to charge NEW prices?
Haven't these people been crapped on enough?
What these people need are subsidized loans at fair interest rates, and none of that ballooning interest rates either.
When are we going to throw these incompetent sociopaths in the slammer anyway?
Well to be honest, subsidized loans doesn't do anyone any good if the person has no income to pay it back. I don't think FEMA is being sociopathic in selling the trailers, but honestly it is probably more expensive to remove the stupid thing, which is probably worthless now that it's been used for a few years anyway, than it is to just give them away.
Looks like "Montana Max" Bacchus (D-MT) is back at his old Republi-lite games.
He's been putting up a good show of how "populist" he is and now turns around and sponsors and amendment that would kill this housing finance reform?
Montana is under represented in Washington, we have a rubber stamp Republican (non)Representative and Denny Rheburg, Republi-lite Max Bacchus and populist Jon Tester for senators.
Jon Tester is the only guy who comes close to representing the people of Montana, and Bacchus only represents us about half the time, when his special intrests don't get in the way.
That's one and a half out of three, so you could say that Montana only has half-assed representation in Washington.
Rheburg and Bacchus are up for re-election in 2008, and I'm NOT voting for either one of them.
I don't care if I have to write in Gov. Schweitzer's dog Jag and my yellow dog for their seats.
At least THEY'D be loyal to their constituents!
« Hide Comments
Comments are now closed for this entry.
