The real estate market continues to plummet. But Jerry Howard, CEO of the National Association of Home Builders, says his group will head into 2009 with "guns blazing."

The NAHB will spend the "same or more" on lobbying in 2009 as it did in 2008, said Howard in a wide-ranging interview on Dec. 16 with National Journal. "Our members know we are in such dire straits that we have to be fully engaged and capitalized to get the job done, so you'll see us come out with guns blazing."

For the first three quarters of 2008 the NAHB reported spending $3.8 million on federal lobbying, and the fourth quarter has yet to be reported. The Jan.-Sept. number is already higher than what NAHB reported for all of 2007, when the group spent $3.22 million on lobbying, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

In 2009, a portion of the money will be spent on the group's new advocacy effort, "Fix Housing First," a coalition of about 600 organizations and companies that will be pushing hard in January to have a home-buyer tax credit included in the economic stimulus package that will be moving through Congress early next year.

The coalition is also pushing government agencies to adopt an "interest rate buy-down" that would reduce rates on 30-year mortgages to 2.99 percent for contracts closed between now and June 30, 2009, and 3.99 percent for contracts closed after June 30 and through Dec. 31, 2009.  Both a tax credit and an interest rate buy-down were successfully used by the government in 1974 and 1975 when housing was in a tailspin.

"Both of these incentives worked in 1975," according to the

Howard said House and Senate members have been receptive to the housing industry's pitch and "are willing to listen to any reasonable" idea. To his surprise, however, Howard has gotten the cold shoulder from President-elect Obama's transition team.

"Obama has sort of mandated that he won't speak to lobbyists," Howard said. "I wear that Scarlett Letter 'L', (in reference to the fact that Howard is a registered lobbyist) so we haven't been able to make much [headway] with the transition itself. [Obama's people] won't even talk to us."

Click below to read our Q&A with Jerry Howard

(Photo by Rick Bloom)
                                                                                                                    -- Bara Vaida

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