[Peace-discuss] Another Democrat betrayal

[C. G. Estabrook]

	Mortgage help for bankrupt homeowners dropped
	By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and DAVID ESPO, Associated Press Writers
	Fri Sep 26, 7:54 PM ET

WASHINGTON - House Democrats say the idea of letting judges rewrite mortgages to
help bankrupt homeowners avoid foreclosure won't be a part of the $700 billion
financial industry bailout.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told Democrats at a closed-door meeting Friday
evening the provision would be a deal-breaker for Republicans who she has said
must deliver substantial votes for the rescue plan. That's according to several
lawmakers who attended the session.

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama had said earlier that the measure
didn't belong in the bailout...

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Note that the Democrats, having control of the House, could pass the bailout
without a substantial number of Republican votes, as Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) of
the Financial Services Comm. admitted.  So why don't they? Because they want
enough Republican participation so that they can't be attacked by Republicans
for supporting this unpopular bailout, which is clearly in the interests of the
elite and not the populace.  So they have to betray popular interests even more,
to garner Republican support (for the measure from a Republican administration!)

Altho' the bailout is in the interests of the rich and against those of the 
(much more numerous) poor, it's instructive that the Senate Democrats, the 
Senate Republicans, and the House Democrats all support it.  But the deal fell 
apart last week because the *House Republicans* wouldn't support it.  Why not? 
Because their mail and phone calls were running 10-1 against it, and the House 
Republicans are reflecting the views of their constituents, while the others 
(Pelosi et al.) are protecting the interests of the rich -- with some 
interesting exceptions, like Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL).  --CGE