Political Quotes

“The primary beneficiaries of H.R. 5818 are the neighborhoods and neighbors of high concentrations of houses made vacant by the foreclosure and predatory lending crises. Helping those neighborhoods should be a nonpartisan and noncontroversial act. Such neighborhoods are the totally innocent bystanders of the predatory lending and foreclosure crises. Neighbors and neighborhoods are victims of the meltdown of subprime loans that preceded this wave of foreclosures, and there's no moral hazard in helping the neighbors. The Kucinich amendment ensures that the funds authorized by H.R. 5818 are targeted to help the most needy neighborhoods. When a foreclosure leads to a vacant and abandoned property, this is what happens to the neighborhood: Crime goes up, as the vacant property can become home to criminal activity, drug places, and fire hazards; local government costs for police, fire and building inspections go up; vacancies go up, abandoned properties initiate a chain of events that begets more abandoned properties; neighbors lose equity in their homes, because vacant properties have a strong negative effect on the value of neighboring properties. My amendment clarifies that the purpose of this legislation is to help State and local governments 'preserve the equity and ensure the safety of neighbors of homes made vacant' by the foreclosure and predatory lending crises.”