KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, on the second day of a tour seeking to build support for a government-sponsored mortgage relief plan, on Tuesday said it was not a bailout for people who made bad financial decisions.

"Foreclosures are very costly to lenders and investors as well as harmful to homeowners," Paulson said in an interview on Fox News Channel. "There's no bailout with government money, none whatsoever."
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But the Bush administration proposal has met skepticism, with critics warning it may make some lenders wary about future lending because they see the government stepping in to change terms. Others say people should bear the consequences of their bad decisions.
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The U.S. House of Representatives also passed legislation on Tuesday that would for three years erase the tax bill that many homeowners would face as they struggle with burdensome home loan payments.

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"So what the industry has done is come up with some streamlined procedures to fast-track these modifications to approximate what would have happened under normal market conditions if there was more time," he said.