Ensign votes against housing bill that passes Senate

Saturday, July 26, 2008 | 11:26 a.m.

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WASHINGTON -- With one in 43 Nevada homeowners now facing the possibility of foreclosure, Republican Sen. John Ensign voted this morning against Congress' sweeping mortgage relief package now headed for President Bush's signature.

The Senate overwhelmingly approved the package during a rare Saturday session with support from all Democrats present and half the Senate's Republicans. The bill similarly swept through the House earlier this week as the nation's housing woes worsen, despite objections from Republican leaders that it was a bailout.

With the state hard hit by the mortgage mess, all of Nevada's other lawmakers in Washington have voted for the package.

The bill could help hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure refinance their loans at lower rates. It includes the Bush administration's plan to give the federal government broad but temporary authority to shore up mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose problems pose grave economic threats.

Ensign said he realizes homeowners face tough times, but worried the bill would cause more harm in the long run. His office said most of the calls they receive are from those who oppose the bill.

"This bill, I believe, is dumping the burden onto the taxpayer and bailing out a lot of irresponsible lenders," Ensign said in a brief interview Saturday.

"While it has some short-term fixes, in the longer term, I believe it's going to cause the country more serious problems and is going to pass a huge liability on those future generations."

Skeptics worry taxpayers could be held responsible for massive sums if foreclosures worsen.

Sen. Harry Reid, the majority leader, called the bill's passage an important day for the country.

Nevada's other lawmakers in Washington, Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley and Republican Reps. Jon Porter and Dean Heller, all voted for the bill earlier in the House.

The state reported Friday that foreclosure notices for the second-quarter were sent to one in every 43 Nevada households.

Gov. Jim Gibbons expressed hope that the bill in Congress could offer some relief.

Discussion: 6 comments so far…

By psychron

7/26/08 at 2:19 p.m.

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Senator Ensign worries about bailing out companies who loaned to people who are facing foreclosures, or is he too hard-hearted to be concerned about those who are soon to be homeless?

As I understand, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are quasi-governmental "companies" whose loss would result in a complete revamping of the mortgage loan system, and a possible total collapse of the economy. These two "companies" are responsible for something like 10 trillion dollars in mortgage loans, and have about a 1.5% failure rate. These losses aren't unusually high, they are about like any good bank experiences. Lack of governmental regulation, as supported by Senator Ensign, is the basic culprit, with support given by short-seller speculators who helped depress the investment capital. He should take the responsibility for his error in judgement and do something to correct the situation, not just wring his hands and vote like any other partisan politician.

By the way, how did he feel about the Bear Stearns bailout? Did he want to help bail out these crooks for 30 billion of our dollars, or did he say he didn't believe in bailing out those who engage in irresponsible lending practices?

Ron Anderson
Las Vegas
By mar100

7/26/08 at 2:48 p.m.

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Hats off Senator Ensign for doing what was right.
This bill will bailout lenders who made bad and in some cases criminal business decisions when loaning money and shift the losses to the tax payer. This just stalls the foreclosure for a few more years and will add more debt, our children and grandchildren will have to pay in the future.
By UNLVStud

7/26/08 at 4:32 p.m.

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Where was Sen. Ensign's opposition to all those other bills related to the housing crisis? The bills that bailed out so many corporate entities, but did nothing to help the normal people who were tricked into mortgages they couldn't afford.

Where was his leadership on crafting relief for those that are effected by a poorly regulated banking/lending system?

I guess he was too busy playing golf with those bankers to represent us.
By hal0bender

7/26/08 at 6:47 p.m.

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Kudos for John Ensign in doing the right thing. As a life long democrat I have now shifted to independent and will be voting against Harry Reid with pride. You took out a loan you couldn't afford, you pay for it. Don't expect welfare on other taxpayers behalf.

Thanks Harry, I'll be looking forward to voting against you and your comrades!
By mikeg

7/26/08 at 11:59 p.m.

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From a purely political perspective, 1 in 43 homeowners is only about 2% of the people who actually vote. And if they're in foreclosure they probably don't contribute to political campaigns, since they're broke.

So what does the Senator care about these jerkoffs?

He's a republican, he only cares about the dollar dollar bling yo.
By Kristofor

9/30/08 at 7:43 a.m.

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The crisis was created due to several factors, not all of which does anyone understand. However, we do know that the government was printing lots of money to pay debts, and this normally causes nasty inflation. To prevent or reduce the risk of inflation, the government "held down" the interest rates when they otherwise would have been higher. This helped create an artificial demand for housing.

There isn't any money for the buyout. The government doesn't have it. All they would do is print the money, which would further devalue our dollar. Our children and grandchildren will be stuck with the bill, because much of these bailout "loans" will never be repaid. It will further choke our country.

Stabilizing our economy requires our government to get spending under control, let people have more of their income, and stop allowing federal reserve bankers to print money. Pure and simple.

Thank you, Senator Ensign, for your part in stopping this thing. It gives me hope that you still have your conscience.

We need leadership in the Senate and Congress to tell the truth and do what's right. Please be "our guy".