Democrats Want Mortgage ‘Czar,’ But Don’t Have Many Other Details

WASHINGTON — Democratic leaders in Congress have renewed their call on the Bush Administration to do more about the mortgage crisis affecting both lenders and borrowers in some markets, but have not offered any firm proposals for a course of action. But political analysts said what’s really afoot has less to do with problems in the mortgage market and more to do with the 2008 elections. "The Democrats want to develop a second front for the 2008 elections: the economy, in addition to the Iraq war," Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, told American Banker. The Democrats have asked that the Bush administration lift the portfolio caps on government-sponsored enterprises immediately to fuel market liquidity, boost funding for foreclosure prevention, and establish a “housing czar” to cut through red tape and oversee workout arrangements for borrowers.