Douglas Alexander: “Mr. President, Republicans believe we ought to fix housing first, and we would like to talk about that for the next 30…”

“Mr. President, Republicans believe we ought to fix housing first, and we would like to talk about that for the next 30 minutes. Mr. Kyl, the Senator from Arizona, is here for that purpose. Senator Ensign is here, who is the author of an amendment that would provide 4 to 4.5 percent mortgages for up to 40 million Americans so they could buy new homes or refinance their homes. Senator Isakson is here, who is the author of an amendment to provide a $15,000 tax credit for the next year to home buyers. We believe these proposals would provide instant jobs. Housing got us into this economic mess and housing will help get us out of the economic mess. The Republican leader, Senator McConnell, stated that this is a big spending bill. I was on the telephone last night with the former budget chairman, Senator Domenici of New Mexico, who has been counting in his retirement. He said it took our country from the time of its founding until the mid-1980s to build up a national debt of $850 billion, which was the size of this so-called stimulus package when it came over here. So we are talking about real borrowed money, and our goal is to reorient the whole discussion: first, to housing; second, to letting taxpayers keep more of their own money; and, third, to get out of the bill those items that don't belong in the bill.”