Political Quotes

“On December 31, the tax exclusion for mortgage forgiveness expired. What does that mean? It means if someone sells their house for less than they owe, they have to pay tax on the difference. The failure of the House Republican leadership to extend this forgiveness provision, which has been on the books since 2009, means that underwater properties all across the country--6 million of them-- now basically face paying taxes in terms of trying to do the right thing and get these properties to move. In Connecticut today, there are 772 pending short sale closings that, again, the owners are going to be taxed because of the failure of the Republican leadership to move. Mr. Camp said the other day that there is nothing to worry about; we have all year to deal with this. Well, the housing market can't wait. We need to move. H.R. 2994 will extend that mortgage forgiveness tax relief. It is time for this Chamber to take this measure up and vote on it. Ask a realtor; ask a home builder; ask a mortgage broker. They all know. This market needs to get the overhang of distressed properties cleared out if we are going to have a healthy housing market and a strong recovery. This Chamber needs to act. The Republican leadership needs to listen to people who are in the front trenches of the economy. ____________________”