The Mortgage Mess: Who To Blame, How To Help

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's recently ousted executives are back in the spotlight, answering questions before the House Oversight and Government Reform committee, which is scrutinizing a huge stack of documents and e-mail as it examines the risks the mortgage lenders and its accountants took and the sums that were paid to their top bosses. The hearing comes as regulators trying to stop the foreclosure tidal wave grapple with a new disturbing trend: word that more than half of mortgages whose terms were eased in the first quarter of this year fell into delinquency again within six months.

With foreclosures expected to total 2.25 million this year, more than double the usual total, and one in ten homeowners with mortgages now behind in their monthly payments, an increasing number of Americans are either personally struggling with, or know someone who is confronting, foreclosure. An October Kaiser Health Tracking Poll found 60 percent who said lowering their rent or mortgage payment would help their personal financial situation "a lot" or "some," while 46 percent said they were "very" or "somewhat" worried about being able to make their rent or mortgage payments.

A Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll that same month found 51 percent who felt "very" or "somewhat" worried that their personal financial security was threatened, and 61 percent who were "strongly" or "somewhat" in favor of the federal government providing assistance to individual homeowners who are facing foreclosure. Only 28 percent said they were "strongly" or "somewhat" opposed, and 73 percent said lack of government regulation is partly responsible for the current financial and housing crisis.

That poll shows Americans were divided on whether the first $700 billion Wall Street bailout would keep the economy from getting worse: 48 percent were "not too confident" or "not confident at all" that the taxpayer funds would help, and 44 percent were "somewhat" or "very" confident the rescue package might work.

A Time Magazine/Abt ARBI survey at about the same time reveals very different feelings for bailouts of companies as opposed to individuals. Fifty-two percent said the government, instead of rescuing mortgage-mired lenders, should have let those financial institutions go out of business. Twenty-two percent disagreed. Asked whether the government should help people who can't afford their mortgages by suspending foreclosures until the economy has improved, 44 percent were in favor of the idea, 33 percent were opposed, and 20 percent were undecided.

Public opinion is part of the equation when it comes to the decisions our policymakers and lawmakers are making on the economy. Stay on top of the economic issues and the choices we face with our Citizen's Survival Kit, which includes our Take It To The Next Level console of e-mail addresses to let your voice be heard by leaders from President Bush and President-elect Obama on through the House and Senate.