President Obama was in Phoenix today to promote plans to cut the Federal Housing Administrations mortgage insurance premium rates for home buyers.
Beginning this month rates will be decreasing from 1.35 percent to .85 percent. According to White House Officials, that could save new borrowers about $900 a year.
Obama said the move is aimed at extending the progress of the nation’s real estate recovery.
"What’s true in AZ is true all across the county," Obama said. "We’ve still got some more work to do. Our job is not done. But what we’re doing is working and we have to keep at it. We have to stay at it."
Obama didn’t visit the Veterans Health Care System on his trip to Phoenix Thursday. Central High School is one mile north of the Phoenix VA.
That facility is where the nationwide scandal about delays of patient care started. Dan Caldwell with Concerned Veterans for America said the administration was slow to respond to the scandal in the first place.
“His priorities on VA reform has always been out of whack," Caldwell said. "He has not supported real VA reform. He thinks the only solution to fixing the VA is throwing more money at it.”
Caldwell is dissatisfied that former Phoenix VA Director Sharon Helman wasn’t fired for her involvement in the scandal, but for what he calls unrelated reasons. He said he believes that investigation was bungled.
Obama’s visit to the Valley was the second stop in a three-state presidential tour. After his speech in Phoenix, the President is scheduled to return to Washington, D.C.
