Absolutely Crucial that the New York Times Butt Out
Getting the Rescue Right
Published: August 10, 2007
Help has been way too slow in coming for the estimated 1.7 million people who will lose their homes to foreclosure this year and next. A modest bill to bolster funds for state, local and nonprofit agencies that help hard-pressed homeowners renegotiate their mortgages and restructure their debts has been slogging through the Senate since April, and it won’t be passed until October at the earliest — if ever. On the presidential campaign trail, Senator Hillary Clinton recently promised to introduce a similar relief measure — next month. There has been far less procrastinating, however, when it comes to offering help to investors, bankers and other lenders who are feeling squeezed as the mortgage mess restricts their access to easy money. Yesterday’s smackdown in the stock market — like others this year tied to mortgage woes — will likely only intensify lawmakers’ desire to ride to the rescue of Wall Steet constituents. Earlier this wee…