Heck Distances From Romney On Housing
Freshman Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., distanced himself this week from comments Mitt Romney has made about letting the foreclosure process "run its course and hit bottom." The Las Vegas Sun's Jon Ralston:
Heck: "Mitt Romney and I don't agree on every issue and certainly housing is one of them. When you look at what is going on here in Southern Nevada, you can't say you got to let the housing market hit bottom. We have been bouncing along the bottom for years. And the fact is we have to do everything possible to: 1) keep people in their homes and 2) get people who are out of their homes back into their homes."
Last October, Romney told the Las Vegas Review-Journal's editorial board this: "As to what to do for the housing industry specifically and are there things that you can do to encourage housing: One is, don't try to stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom."
As Ralston notes, a Heck spokesman defended Romney in October, telling the Review-Journal Heck thinks the housing market "does need to reach bottom," but supports "a soft landing rather than a hard crash" by having the government continue to offer refinancing help .
The latest statement from Heck, a Romney backer, says two things: One, Romney's comments aren't going to play well, especially in states hit hard by the housing crisis. Two, Heck sees the issue as a point of contention in his own race, and one that he's seeking distance from his party's potential presidential nominee.
Heck, a former state senator, narrowly defeated Democrat Dina Titus in 2010. The Democratic frontrunner challenging him this is time John Oceguera, the speaker of the state Assembly.
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