The U.S. Senate, in an attempt to help unburden struggling homeowners, advanced a potential bill that would give them a $15,000 tax credit. Republicans attempted to add several different amendments to the bill, but Democrats vowed they would not change the bill one iota. President Barack Obama lent his presidential gravitas to the bill, saying that Republicans attempting to change the bill would be defying the American people. “I've heard criticisms of this plan that echo the very same failed theories that helped lead us into this crisis, the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems, that we can ignore the fundamental challenges like energy independence and the high cost of health care and still expect our economy and our country to thrive,” Obama said. “I reject that theory, and so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change. So I urge members of Congress to act without delay.” The new tax credit, if passed, will be rolled into Obama's stimulus package, which is approaching about $900 billion in new government spending. It would allow homeowners to take a tax credit of up to 10 percent of a new home purchased in the past year, up to $15,000. The initiative is meant to help homeowners who are struggling to pay mortgages they bought at low initial rates, which have since skyrocketed.
