Foreigners' Sweetener: Buy House, Get a Visa

[Elwar]

The reeling housing market has come to this: To shore it up, two Senators are preparing to introduce a bipartisan bill Thursday that would give residence visas to foreigners who spend at least $500,000 to buy houses in the U.S.
The provision is part of a larger package of immigration measures, co-authored by Sens. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Mike Lee (R., Utah), designed to spur more foreign investment in the U.S.

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My take on this...

Laws on roads to citizenship are one of the few powers of Congress.
Article 1, Section 8, Clause 4 (http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A1Sec8.html#C4)
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

My thoughts on the best form of "taxation" was in paying for citizenship. Almost like paying to join a club. Once you are in, you are in. But in order to get in, there should be some compensation paid in order to get in.

The better law would be to charge $500,000 for citizenship. For 2010 with 1 million immigrants that would come out to $500,000,000,000 which would be plenty for our national defense and justice system with no further taxation necessary for citizens.

But this is close. It is not citizenship, it is a residency visa which creates a path toward citizenship. But I can see some downfall in that you just have to own the home to gain residency but once you become a citizen you could just sell it. This is a boost to the banks as foreigners essentially pay banks rent for a home for a few years until they get residency and then dump the house.

I assume Ron Paul would vote against it as it is basically the government picking and choosing which industry that money should flow to, which never helps. But on a personal note. If this passed, I would likely put my house up for sale for $500,000 (a few hundred more than the value) and once it sold to a foreigner I would take the excess money from the sale and move to Costa Rica (unless Ron Paul wins).

[HOLLYWOOD]

Many countries charge for migrating... but the Democrats wouldn't allow just the rish to come in... they want one and 27 shirtale relatives to also join the purchasers of a house. This way they have majority voter support from the poor on the free handouts.

[The Free Hornet]

If this passed, I would likely put my house up for sale for $500,000 (a few hundred more than the value) and once it sold to a foreigner I would take the excess money from the sale and move to Costa Rica (unless Ron Paul wins).

Not to burst your personal housing bubble, but why wouldn't an immigrant just put in some lowball offers for houses worth $550,000 to a million or so? Lowball the house, get your papers, fix the place up a little (if needed) and flip it and the bird to your now-fellow countrymen.

[Brian4Liberty]

Selling America bit by bit. Goldman Sachs wants to get top dollar for all of the residential real estate that the government is giving them for pennies on the dollar.

What a great plan - Foreclose on an American and kick him out of his house, give the house to Goldman Sachs, and then sell it to an immigrant.

"If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of all property until their children wake up homeless on the continent their Fathers conquered." - TJ

[celestineB]

Foreign immigrants who invest a minimum of $500,000 on an American home should get residence visas, say Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah). In order to attract additional foreign investment in the U.S. economy, Schumer and Lee will soon present associated legislation before Congress. Proposed housing bill would grant immigrants residence visas. The proposed legislation would complement existing visa programs that allow immigrants to enter the U.S. if they invest in job-creating new businesses.

[BucksforPaul]

Epic fail!

So let me get this straight, rather than letting home prices come down to their natural levels the government, who created this mess in the first place, now wants to sell houses at an inflated price which will only prolong the agony of tens of millions of Americans. To add insult to injury, these houses will be sold for record profits by fascist entities who most likely don't even possess the note on the house because it has long disappeared down the derivative hole. This is obviously a desperate move to continue the status quo while allowing the banksters to resell something they don't even truly own because they already sold it to tens of other customers.

Not too long ago our immigration policy not only encouraged, but also facilitated the brightest and hardworking individuals to be recruited to come live in this great country irrespective of whether they could immediately buy a home. I personally know of many cases where a foreigner was recruited by US firms simply because he or she was the leader in a given profession but did not possess half a million dollars. Some were recruited right out of universities because they graduated with the highest marks in their classes.

[Demigod]

Which immigrant has 500 000$ for a house?

Only rich people and criminals could afford it.But rich people wont buy cause USA has the second biggest taxes in the world so there is no point to get a USA citizenship.
That leaves criminals.