ANDY HARRIS: 'I JUST VOTED TO LOWER THE VALUE OF YOUR HOME. SORRY'

Andy Harris, walking arm-in-arm with a lobbyist for the banking industry, was stopped at 15th and New York by a (Dissociated Press) reporter, who asked the Congressman from Maryland's First Congressional District to confirm that Harris voted YES to defund the Home Affordable Modification Program. HARRIS: Why, yes, I did. That was HB 839. I am proud of that vote. ( Congress.org - Key Votes ) REPORTER: Isn't that the program that allows people who are under water to stay in their homes? HARRIS: No, that's the Obama socialist housing agenda that lets deadbeats off the hook. Now they get what they deserve, a boot in the backsides out of their homes. REPORTER: Did you vote to replace the program with anything? HARRIS: No. REPORTER: What happens to the homes that the banks put into foreclosure? HARRIS: They all go back into the housing market. REPORTER: Won't a glut of below-market homes suddenly coming on to the market lower housing prices for everyone in the First District and across the country? (NOTE: See Source, below.) HARRIS: . . . eh . . . REPORTER: Mr. Harris, Won't that lower housing prices for everyone? HARRIS: . . . Gotta go . . . REPORTER: Mr. Harris, what do you say to your constituents who have to sell their homes and discover they have lost value because of so many bank-owned homes on the market?  SOURCE: March 29, 2011 Washington, DC -- John Taylor, president & CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) today made this statement about the anticipated House vote to terminate the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP): [. . .  ] Congress decision this week to eliminate HAMP does nothing but cause further agony to the millions of hard-working families who are on the brink of losing their homes. [. . .] Our government needs to stop tip-toeing around the housing crisis and start addressing it head-on with concrete, actionable solutions that lend a hand to the American people rather than providing yet another escape hatch for Wall Street. [. . .] The economy will never fully recover if the foreclosure crisis is not addressed in any real way.  [. . .] with nearly 11 million foreclosures starting us in the face, [. . .] attempts to stem the tide of foreclosures [. . .] don't begin to tackle the magnitude of the problem. http://www.communityinvestmentnetwork.org/nc/single-news-item-states/article/elimination-of-hamp-would-only-prolong-the-foreclosure-agony/?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=1684&type=98 Andy Harris - gotta go END