| Hope on the decline for former Bush backer
Our chief political reporter is traveling the state, talking to voters about the highly charged presidential campaign. POMEROY, Garfield County -- Mary Dye said it'd be easy to find the farmhouse where her family lives. Go through Pomeroy, population 1,520; through Pataha, population one Gypsy Java stand; turn right after the dinosaur sculpture made from old sickle blades; and start climbing miles up into the Blue Mountains. And don't forget to turn at the shrub at the top and look for the big, red barn. In 2000, Mary and Roger Dye attended a "Save Our Dams" rally in the Tri-Cities promoted in part by the Republican Party to boost voter turnout and then-candidate George W. Bush. I stopped by their farm to see how engaged Republican voters were feeling about this year's slate of GOP presidential candidates.
Expelled MP May Face Met Inquiry
An MP expelled from the Tory party in the Commons over payments to his son from parliamentary allowances is awaiting news of a possible police inquiry and fresh sleaze investigation. Derek Conway, who was stripped of the Conservative whip by party leader David Cameron on Monday, has been reported to Scotland Yard by a political rival. Duncan Borrowman, the Liberal Democrat challenger for the MP's Old Bexley and Sidcup seat, has written to the Metropolitan Police asking them to examine whether a fraud has been committed. His letter had not been received by detectives late Monday night. Mr Cameron's action followed a highly critical report which condemned Mr Conway's use of parliamentary allowances to pay his son Freddie more than £40,000.
Lawmakers seek to boost home-buying benefit
The House Veterans' Affairs Committee is focusing on how to use the veterans' home loan program to help service members and veterans who risk losing their homes. Reps. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., and Mike Michaud, D-Maine, introduced a bill Thursday that would greatly increase the maximum loan amount that the Department of Veterans Affairs guarantees. The bill, HR 4539, would raise the current $417,000 limit to a new maximum of $521,250. Buyer, the former committee chairman, said the chief reason for the increase is that the $417,000 cap is so low that it precludes service members and veterans from using the program in some high-cost areas of the country. "Rising housing costs are keeping many veterans out of the market," Buyer said. "And those who are able to purchase the American Dream are paying significantly higher closing costs." Buyer said the bill also would make it easier for people with non-VA loans to refinance under the government guaranty program by capping refinancing fees — which currently are larger for refinancing than for new loans — and could relax rules on who must pay closing costs, both actions that would make the VA loan program more attractive.
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