Democrats Face Rescue Backlash

Democrats, pressing for approval of a taxpayer-funded effort to rescue homeowners in danger of foreclosure, may pay the price in this year's elections, experts say.

That's because many U.S. home owners — specifically, those who continue to make their mortgage payments in a timely manner — agree with the Bush administration and most GOP members of Congress that the Democratic plan is tantamount to using taxpayer dollars to reward irresponsible actions.

According to a Gallup Poll conducted in late March, 42 percent of Americans are against the government stepping in to help home owners facing foreclosure.

Bush economic policy advisor Keith Hennessey says the response from home owners keeping up with their home payments will be: "Hey, wait a second, why are you helping him when I'm making hard choices every single month to stay current on my mortgage?"

Democrats, however, say their plan is only doing for home owners what the government is doing for Wall Street financial institutions. While Republican consultant Todd Harris concedes that "there will be massive public opinion on the side of helping the single mom who got swindled," he says there also "will be massive voter retribution against any plan that is perceived to bail out greedy and unscrupulous speculators and mortgage companies."

Source: Wall Street Journal (05/12/08)