Quick action vital on housing package

Realtors have been advocating for a comprehensive stimulus package to reduce housing inventory, make mortgages more affordable and available, and help deserving families refinance or modify their loans so they can keep their homes.

There can be no doubt that stabilizing home prices and restoring confidence in the housing market are critical to an overall economic recovery.

It’s vitally important for President Obama and Congress to complete a bipartisan stimulus package focused on housing. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is a good start but more needs to be done. It’s imperative that the federal government act immediately to encourage homebuyers to re-enter the market and to stop families from losing their homes to foreclosure.

Federal “rescue” dollars should be directed to buy down mortgage rates – a half million additional homes could be sold if interest rates were lowered by just 1 percentage point. Additionally, banks must find ways to help prevent foreclosures and unclog the credit market.

Realtors support a $15,000 home buyer’s tax credit and its expansion to include all home buyers, not just first timers. The elimination of the repayment feature and the credit extension through December 2009 will have a meaningful impact for home buyers. Reinstating the increased FHA, Fannie and Freddie loan limits that expired on Dec. 31 will also help the recovery by increasing mortgage liquidity. Banks need to begin lending again. The Senate’s recent amendment to the stimulus bill, which contains many of these items as well as others, would be a step in the right direction.

Consumer confidence is shaken, but we find the dream of home ownership still very much alive. We urge all parties to work together — and quickly — to restore confidence in the housing market and the U.S. financial system.

Jeff Smith, president, Kentucky Association of Realtors



Pickens Plan will reduce oil use

Our nation is at a crossroads to determine our future towards our energy needs. The Pickens Plan is the only proposal on the table that will lower our dependence on foreign oil by up to 50 percent over the next ten years.

Baseline facts:

-- 22 percent of electrical power produced in the U.S. comes from natural gas.

-- The Department of Energy did a study showing 20 percent of our electrical power needs could be generated from wind energy in the “wind corridor” stretching from northern Texas to the Canadian border. That would free up natural gas to be used instead of diesel to power 18 wheelers.

-- 70 percent of our imported oil is used as a transportation fuel with 30 percent of that used as diesel fuel for heavy trucks.

-- Current battery technology does not provide enough power to move an 18-wheeler. By replacing existing heavy trucks burning imported diesel with trucks running on domestic natural gas, we can immediately begin reversing our dependence on foreign oil.

The information provided is just a brief glimpse of The Pickens Plan. Additional information can be found at www.pickensplan.com. Please join me and many others who are supporting The Pickens Plan.

Bud Coburn, Ashland