Rep. Walz: Neighbor’s Home Foreclosed

For Rep. Tim Walz (D-Minn.), the housing crisis has hit close to home.

“My personal story is that the house right next to [mine] has been in foreclosure for a year and my property value dropped 20 percent this year,” he told the Rochester Post-Bulletin in a story about Congress’s attempts to soften the impact of the crisis.

Walz and Democrats in both chambers support expanding the power of the Federal Housing Authority to insure refinanced mortgages, though conservative Republicans worry about the bill becoming a bailout for homeowners who don’t deserve one. The House has already passed its bill and the Senate is working on a similar one. President Bush, however, vowed earlier this month to veto the House bill.