George Rebane
On the surface it just looks like more congressional bickering. But the two current versions of the payroll tax bills have written in things which go beyond the 'kick the can' capers that the Dems are promoting and the Repubs are fighting. Our congressman Tom McClintock peeled back a bit of the sleaze to quietly re-fund Fannie and Freddie through these pieces of legislative legerdemain. (Some useful idiots still argue that Fannie and Freddie are not government departments.) He made the following speech on the House floor today.
The Problem with Both Payroll Bills
House Chamber, Washington, D.C.
December 20, 2011
Mr. Speaker:
In all this debate, I fear both parties have missed a critical point.
Both versions of this bill impose a permanent new tax on every mortgage backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
To pay for an additional two months of tax relief under the Senate version or 12 months under the House version, more than $3,000 of new taxes will be imposed on every $150,000 mortgage backed by Fannie or Freddie.
A family taking out a $250,000 mortgage will pay $5,000 more in taxes – directly and solely because of this bill – hidden in their future mortgage payments.
This is atrocious public policy. It shifts the burden for this bill to future homebuyers, kicks the housing market when it’s already down, makes it that much more expensive for home buyers to re-enter that market, and adds to the pressures that have chronically depressed everyone’s home values.
That’s the reason that both the Senate and the House versions need to go back for major revision.
rebanesruminations.com 
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