Home Is Where the Vote Is
March 31 2008 - Congress reopens for business today after an extended two-week break and lawmakers will already be thinking about home – the homes of their constituents, that is.
With the economy roiling and the November elections looming, members of Congress are under increasing pressure to help out mortgage holders in foreclosure or facing the prospect of losing their homes due to an inability to make rising mortgage payments.
As David Herszenhorn described in Sunday’s Times, the situation is proving especially ticklish for many Republicans since they are hearing it from voters about the need for help yet they are not enthusiastic about a costly government bail-out program that is also opposed by their presidential standard-bearer, John McCain. But the quick federal intervention to save Bear Stearns leaves them open to complaints of having more sympathy for Wall Street than people on the streets of their states and districts.
The recess pressure seems to have had an impact in the Senate, where Republicans last month filibustered housing assistance legislation. Republicans now indicate they are inclined to allow the bill to be debated, though many are opposed to a provision that would allow bankruptcy judges to restructure home loans. They want other changes as well.
The mortgage crisis, which will also get plenty of attention in the House, is certain to be a fertile topic for the presidential campaign given Senator McCain’s opposition to helping out homeowners who, he said, must be responsible for the loans they took out. Democrats see the issue as a powerful way to differentiate themselves from Republicans on the economic distress facing many Americans. They will push legislation to sharpen those differences and show they want to aid struggling homeowners.
“The question is, is the government going to get in and give them some assistance?” Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, said Sunday on CNN’s Late Edition. “I think clearly the answer to that has to be yes.”
Senator Mel Martinez, his Republican colleague from Florida, a state hit hard by mortgage problems, showed the nervousness among Republicans about the problem and Mr. McCain’s opposition, saying the Arizona Republican was right about the idea that government should not rescue those who made bad business decisions.
“However, where I think he fell short, and I think you will agree with me, is the fact that we need to do some things that can help families, that can help people,” Mr. Martinez said on the same program, saying he backed changes at the Federal Housing Administration that have been stalled in Congress.
The House and Senate will also return to the unsettled dispute over the terror surveillance program. Before leaving town, the House passed its version of the measure without the legal immunity for telecommunications companies demanded by President Bush and approved earlier by the Senate. The House and Senate will now have to work out their differences and the negotiations will not be easy.
With the situation in Iraq remaining so unsettled, Democrats will try to draw attention to the continued instability in that country despite the surge of troops credited with improving security there. A series of hearings scheduled to begin this week will explore the Iraq outlook as Democrats try to set the stage for the upcoming testimony of General David H. Petreaus.
Democrats found themselves on the defensive when the commander in Iraq appeared last fall. One senior Democratic aide said the party will try to “shift focus away from a debate on the success or failure of the surge to a broader discussion that examines the costs of the war, whether the war has made us safer and the ultimate index of success- when will we be able to bring our troops home.”
Home Is Where the Vote Is
by Carl Hulse | New York Times