Room for Debate: A Running Commentary on the News

Introduction

John Moore/Getty Images An eviction team removing furniture from a foreclosed home in Longmont, Colo., last month.

In Las Vegas on Monday, President Obama promoted new rules for federally guaranteed mortgages to give more homeowners with little or no equity in their homes a chance to refinance and avert foreclosure.

A Times editorial welcomed the proposal, saying that borrowers "need all the help they can get." But the public has mixed views of giving more relief to people who took on more debt than they could handle and now owe more than their homes are worth. Pew Research Center findings, for example, have reported strong disapproval for extending help to homeowners who took on mortgages they could not afford.

What are the political risks for the Democrats if the public disapproves of the Obama administration's mortgage relief efforts, however modest? Do the Democrats have no other choice, since reviving the housing market is seen as a key to economic recovery?