Nevada Sen. John Ensign -- whose state is among the hardest hit by a deep housing market slump -- was refusing to allow the housing bill to proceed without a vote on extending tax incentives for renewable energy technologies.
Link - Reuters
As much as I hate agreeing with republicans, he's absolutely in the right on this one.
- The renewable energy tax credits are an important tool for promoting the development and use of new tools in the fight against climate change and to achieve energy independence.
- The housing bill manages to both be a bailout of those who took unnecessary and stupid risks(don't act shocked when your mortgage payment goes up on your ARM, it's in the bleeding contract) and a band aid quick fix that will do little to fix the unfixable housing market slide in the wake of a clearly unsustainable housing and credit bubble.
If he manages to either sink the housing bill or amend the renewables credit, Ensign will have accomplished a Good Thing.