Clinton calls for action on housing crisis
Hillary Clinton called this morning for emergency, far-reaching steps to stem home foreclosures, saying the crisis is weakening the entire economy.
In what her campaign billed as a major policy speech, she outlined a four-point plan that includes giving more aid so homeowners in danger of losing their houses can restructure their mortgages, launching a high-powered working group that would report back in three weeks on ways to broadly restructure at-risk mortgages, easing legal liability for mortgage servicers to help unfreeze the mortgage market, and giving states and cities an additional $30 billion to fight foreclosures..
"We are experiencing a crisis of confidence in our country," she told supporters in Philadelphia, the largest city in Pennsylvania, which holds the next Democratic nomination showdown on April 22. "....Our economy is in serious trouble."
The subprime loan problem has widened into national mortgage crisis, she said. The question now, she said, is how to keep the credit crisis from spiraling into a long, painful recession.
The Federal Reserve has taken steps, unprecedented since the Great Depression, to shore up Wall Street, Clinton said. Now it's time for equally aggressive action to help Main Street and communities across the country, she said. And the country needs someone in the White House who anticipates problems and does not wait for them to worsen, Clinton said.
"We need a president ready on day one to be commander-in-chief of the economy," she said.
But even before her speech, Barack Obama's campaign held a conference call with reporters knocking the plan, and the Republican National Committee sent a compendium of critics saying her plan could worsen the problem.
Obama spokesman Bill Burton said the Illinois senator had proposed a similar summit as Clinton a year ago.
"One key difference, however, is the diversity and representation that Obama called for – not just some of the same people who helped to create these problems or have a direct financial industry stake in the outcome," Burton said in a statement.
Obama does not have any public campaign events scheduled until Wednesday in North Carolina.
It is great to see a democratic candidate dealing with the issues at hand rather than trying to put out racial fires and explain their way out of a situation. A glimpse into the future, maybe?
Sounds familiar.
"Obama Urges Bernanke, Paulson to Fight Foreclosures, Hold Homeownership Summit." Thursday, March 22, 2007 (Yep, that's 2007)
WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Senator Barack Obama today sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Paulson urging them to immediately convene a homeownership preservation summit with key stakeholders to fight foreclosures driven by growth in the subprime mortgage market.
http://obama.senate.gov/press/070322-obama_urges_ber/
Here's Obama's plan, offered a year ago:
On Thursday, March 22nd, 2007 U.S. Senator Barack Obama sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Paulson urging them to immediately convene a homeownership preservation summit with key stakeholders to fight foreclosures driven by growth in the subprime mortgage market. Obama’s economic foresight has largely been overlooked owing to such “news” as the dialog surrounding his use of the smears of his long-time pastor as the catalyst for a major speech on values in Philadelphia earlier in the week (widely characterized as about race-relations in the U.S.) and significant inconsistencies between Senator Clinton’s recollection of her trip to Bosnia as First Lady and news coverage at the time - which makes no reference to significant risks, let alone discusses sniper fire.
The text of Senator Obama’s letter, which is consistent with the his policies on fiscal responsibility and the economy in general as detailed in his widely publicized Blueprint for Change, is on the U.S. Senate web site. Wish they had listened…
…My colleagues on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs have held important hearings on mortgage market turmoil and I expect the Committee will develop legislation.
Nevertheless, a consortium of industry-related service providers and public interest advocates may be able to bring quick and efficient relief to millions of at-risk homeowners and neighborhoods, even before Congress has had an opportunity to act. There is an opportunity here to bring different interests together in the best interests of American homeowners and the American economy…
Senator Barack Obama
Obama sent this letter last year:
On Thursday, March 22nd, 2007 U.S. Senator Barack Obama sent a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Paulson urging them to immediately convene a homeownership preservation summit with key stakeholders to fight foreclosures driven by growth in the subprime mortgage market. Obama’s economic foresight has largely been overlooked owing to such “news” as the dialog surrounding his use of the smears of his long-time pastor as the catalyst for a major speech on values in Philadelphia earlier in the week (widely characterized as about race-relations in the U.S.) and significant inconsistencies between Senator Clinton’s recollection of her trip to Bosnia as First Lady and news coverage at the time - which makes no reference to significant risks, let alone discusses sniper fire.
The text of Senator Obama’s letter, which is consistent with the his policies on fiscal responsibility and the economy in general as detailed in his widely publicized Blueprint for Change, is on the U.S. Senate web site. Wish they had listened…
…My colleagues on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs have held important hearings on mortgage market turmoil and I expect the Committee will develop legislation.
Nevertheless, a consortium of industry-related service providers and public interest advocates may be able to bring quick and efficient relief to millions of at-risk homeowners and neighborhoods, even before Congress has had an opportunity to act. There is an opportunity here to bring different interests together in the best interests of American homeowners and the American economy…
Senator Barack Obama
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