Bush Unveils Housing Aid Plan
President Bush today unveiled a $4.2-billion housing assistance program that he said would help first-time buyers and poor Americans buy their own homes.
In a speech to the National Assn. of Realtors, Bush asked Congress to let first-time home buyers withdraw up to $10,000 without penalty from Individual Retirement Accounts for home down payments.
Ordinarily, the government imposes heavy taxes on IRA funds withdrawn before age 59 1/2.
Bush said his program, dubbed HOPE for Homeownership and Opportunity for People Everywhere, would “recapture the American dream of home ownership for those who have been left behind.”
Bush also proposed $2.15 billion in federal grants to state and local governments and nonprofit groups over three years to help low-income Americans purchase public housing, vacant or foreclosed properties owned by the government.
The local groups would be required to put up an additional dollar for every two dollars provided by the federal government.
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