|
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Wednesday said he has no hope of a compromise with the White House over a housing bill that has provoked a veto threat, as fellow Democratic senators wrestled with whether to remove controversial bankruptcy law changes to attract Republican support.
"I have no expectation of reaching any agreement with the White House," Reid told reporters during a press conference with Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).
"I have tried for seven years ... So we're going to do what we think is best for the country. If we get 67 votes, that's great. If not, the president is going to have to veto this legislation."
The White House issued a veto threat late Tuesday, and Reid said he doubted the Bush administration would compromise.
Reid said he has reached out to Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to forge a compromise, but balked at the possibility of removing the bankruptcy provisions from the bill. The banking industry strongly opposes those provisions, and many Republicans oppose them as well. Democrats argue the provisions would help homeowners facing foreclosure.
Stabenow, however, didn't shut the door quite so strongly to the possibility of dropping the bankruptcy provisions, especially if doing so becomes necessary to get the rest of the bill approved.
"I just don't know," she said when asked about dropping the language. "We support that provision. It is a very important piece of this."
Stabenow also said some Republicans have indicated they will cross over and support the legislation with the bankruptcy law changes, although she declined to name them.
She also emphasized that Democrats will insist as much as possible on keeping the bankruptcy components in the bill, since they would affect far more Americans than the White House's own proposal to reform the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and regulatory oversight of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks.
The bankruptcy changes in the housing bill would allow bankruptcy judges to rewrite the terms of mortgage loans on primary residences. Supporters say the change could help as many as 600,000 homeowners avoid foreclosure, but the banking industry has said that will increase instability and possibly interest rates. Likewise, the White House veto threat Tuesday argued that the bankruptcy law changes “would undermine existing contracts," among other harmful effects. |
