Home prices in nearly all metropolitan areas across the U.S. continue to fall as lawmakers and the Obama administration try to figure out how to remake the nation's housing market.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index reported Tuesday that home prices fell 3.9 percent during the fourth quarter of 2010.

Home prices fell 1 percent in 20 major cities in December, on the heels of another 1 percent drop in November.

In December and January, Elizabeth Warren traveled the nation, meeting with lawmakers, banking executives, business lobbyists and consumer advocacy groups.

The concept of tax reform has backers on both sides of the aisle, but it's a long, complicated process.

Democrats hope to drive home the message that Republicans should be blamed if the fight ends in a government shutdown. 

"It's time to quickly resolve any outstanding issues and send these agreements to Congress as soon as possible," he said.

Democrats argue that Republicans' suggested cuts to the SSA's budget are about 9.3 percent and could lead to furloughs.

"These are going to be the most important two, three, four months that we’ve seen in decades,” Boehner said.

The National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) is pressing Republican and Democratic lawmakers to retain funding for two programs that help low-income consumers and assist in economically distressed areas.

In a letter to House and Senate Appropriations Committee members on Friday, the NAFCU argued that the House's proposed continuing resolution could reduce funding for the Community Development Revolving Loan Fund (CDRLF) by 75 percent and the Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund by 80 percent. 

"Low-income communities have been among the hardest hit over the course of the recession," said Fred R. Becker Jr., president and chief executive of NAFCU in the letter. 

"NAFCU asks that you do not intensify the hardships faced in low-income communities by reducing their access to safe and affordable financial services."

A taxpayer advocate is advising that Washington officials look at a recently released report on government waste as they try to put the country’s books in order.

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