Dems want a “mortgage czar”

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News item from Politico: ‘In an unusual joint push by the House and Senate, Democratic leaders plan to demand Wednesday that President Bush appoint a mortgage czar to spearhead a more aggressive government response to the foreclosure crisis bedeviling millions of economically stressed Americans, Capitol Hill sources tell Politico.’

More: ‘“We will call on the president to appoint a special adviser to oversee and coordinate the federal government’s response to the subprime meltdown,” a senior aide said, insisting on anonymity because the plan has not been announced.’

Our take: You never know, in situations like this, whether Democrats really believe this is a good idea, or whether it’s just pure posturing -- they know the president won’t go for it, which will give them the opportunity to portray him as uncaring, and blame him for not acting aggressively enough.

That said, we believe the regulation of the mortgage industry has been piecemeal, clueless, and scandalously lax, and neither political party has yet demonstrated the will to do something about it. There is widespread agreement, for example, that disclosure of mortgage terms and fees is confusing -- so where are the new, streamlined, plain-English disclosure regulations?

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Hat tip: Hula Girl