President Obama’s next economic and political step.

After a signing ceremony for the Economic Stimulus Package in Denver yesterday, President Obama has gone to Phoenix Arizona to unveil a $75 billion plan to assist families hardest hit by home foreclosures.

According to a White House Press Release, President Obama will announce the proposal that could assist some 4 million families facing foreclosure so they can remain in their homes, while also providing some 5 million families who have struggled to continue making payments the opportunity to refinance their homes to stabilize the housing market and avoid further foreclosures.

The impact of the housing crisis is huge and is deeply affecting neighborhoods and communities, large and small, across the nation.

The Greater Sacramento area is, like Phoenix and many of the rapidly growing cities in the American West, deeply affected by the national housing crisis. New growth areas of Sacramento such as the North Natomas neighborhood, is plastered with real estate signs saying the homes are for sale and are bank owned, street after street after street.

The cost of foreclosed homes extends beyond the families being displaced. The cost to the cities and counties is also huge as there is pressure on the remaining homeowners as home values plummet and the market is flooded. Empty homes become problems and expenses for the city due to code violations and safety problems, on top of the lost tax revenues.

Former Presidential candidate and Republican US Arizona Senator John McCain argued ferociously against President Obama’s Economic Stimulus Bill saying the need to provide financial assistance to help homeowners prevent foreclosure should take precedence in the federal government’s economic actions.

Now is an opportunity for the Senator and other GOP members in both Houses of Congress to step up and embrace the plan President Obama is calling the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. If there is an opportunity for the GOP to demonstrate their commitment to work in a nonpartisan matte on issues critical to American families, this is it. Certainly there will be disagreements among Congressional members and the President about portions of the package and who it is administrated.

The President is taking an action critical to the national economy and critical to many families clinging on to their homes. He is also providing another test of will in seeing if the GOP can find a way to become a bi-partisan partner on a major legislative initiative.

It will be sunny and a balmy 17c day in Phoenix Arizona where the President announces the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan. Hopefully the warm sun will help thaw the frozen economy and the permafrost preventing bipartisan policy initiatives.