Bunning wants investigation of Countrywide's benefit in housing bill

U.S. Senator Jim Bunning (R-Southgate) has joined with Senator Jim Demint (R-South Carolina) to push for a vote to send controversial housing legislation back to committee for futher "investigation."

In a statement released this afternoon, Demint re-iterated concerns that mortgage companies - and Countrywide Financial, in particular - could benefit extensively from the current incarnation of the housing bill.

"There have been very serious concerns raised about actions taken by Countrywide and we need to know what they stand to gain from this bill," said Senator DeMint in a statement dispatched jointly by the two Senators. "The Banking Committee needs to conduct a full investigation and make public the amounts that individual lenders will receive from this massive bill."

Bunning and Demint are pushing to block the legislation until that investigation is complete, though such a maneuver would likely kill the bill. The bill also creates a $300 billion program that would allow some homeowners to refinance their mortgages, with initial approval by a lender.

The two Senators were both among the nine Senate signatories to an initial letter of protest against the bill, dispatched following the news that key Banking Committee Democrats Chris Dodd, of Connecticut, and Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) received preferential mortgages from Countrywide. That letter asked for further consideration of the housing bill so legislators could "understand the allegations and how much Countrywide will benefit from the bill."

The Senators' statement of today cited a morning Wall Street Journal editorial claiming Countrywide could get $25 billion in benefits from the bill.

"I have serious concerns about moving forward with a bill that was crafted behind closed doors," said Bunning.  "It is a real problem for me, my constituents back home, and anyone who believes in transparency in government. This bill is over 600 pages long...As a member of the Banking Committee I also think we need to take a closer look at exactly who benefits from this bill and by how much.  We owe it to our children and grandchildren to do better."