OK, I was gone, but I have a substantive question I need to ask.
I've heard some talk recently by Reich or Krugman or maybe even Occupy about pushing as policy some time this summer a mass mortgage write-down program in order to give the economy a real shove in the right direction.
The biggest mortage holders are forced to write down (reduce the balance owed) on most mortgages held in the US. A give-back to the folks who've done it all right but have been left holding a half-empty bag.
Whatcha think?
I ruminate a bit below the fold.
So, it SOUNDS GREAT, for one thing. Massively populist, putting the monkey on the correct back, so to speak. Mortgage banking was the problem, here's part of a solution for ordinary homeowners.
It's gotta play well in Peoria among the working class. Here is Obama pushing for money to come back to you! What a stump speech it could make. It puts the Republicans in a very painful position to argue against it.
It is even possible: it can be done in some reasonable amount perhaps with targets for areas hardest hit, and it is a direct stimulus to the part of the economy that needs it most.
So I'll stay and see what people think, is there any chance this could occur to the Obama White House as a program worth pushing for?