Senate OKs Foreclosure Relief Bill

By a huge margin, the Senate today passed a $300 billion bill to help homeowners avoid foreclosure—but the White House vows to veto it unless the House makes changes, the AP reports. The bill will let struggling homeowners reinsure at cheaper rates backed by the government, but President President Bush says that nearly $4 billion in the bill, slated to fix up foreclosed homes, benefits lenders, not owners.

A Bush spokeswoman urged House lawmakers to strip the provision “so that they can get a housing bill to the president that he could sign right away.” But many in the House, particularly black congressmen, see the money as essential to revitalizing affected communities. Barack Obama urged Bush to pass the measure "along with a second emergency stimulus package to jumpstart the economy." (More Senate stories.)