August 30, 2007

OBAMA: And He Overturned The Tables Of The Money Changers

Barack Obama's Financial Times article promising to help homeowner's avoid foreclosure by fining subprime lenders that "acted irresponsibly or committed fraud" received strong netroots support. MyDD's Max Fletcher blogs: ""Perhaps most prominently, Obama calls for fines to be levied against predatory subprime lenders in order to rescue homeowners facing foreclosure after receiving loans they could not afford. ... The second part of Obama's plan involves tighter regulation of the lending industry. Here, Obama returns to an old theme, arguing that it will take a reining in of the lobbying industry in order to achieve a reining in of the lending industry."

Daily Kos' Jerome a Paris comments on Obama's call for more regulation: "In fact, this is something that is required on a grand scale for the two industries that intersect in the mortgage industry: the financial sector in general and all industries providing consumer goods and services. ... This is one of the core functions of government - to protect weak and isolated individuals against the abuses of large commercial players."

Fletcher also compares Hillary Clinton's mortgage plan with Obama's: "Clinton's plan, introduced earlier this month, lacks the teeth of the Obama plan in that it doesn't propose fines on predatory behavior. ... Obama's mortgage plan is a strong progressive policy that holds predatory lenders accountable while saving thousands of families from financial ruin."

OBAMA II: Marshalling The Troops

The Huffington Post's Zach Exley continued his series on Barack Obama's field organization efforts. He writes from Atlanta, GA: "No one who attends a "Camp Obama" training weekend can deny that something truly beautiful is taking place inside the Barack Obama campaign. But beauty does not win votes. Is the campaign's innovative, intellectual and emotional training program leading toward electoral power, or just another screaming disappointment for the grassroots?"

TPM Cafe's Andrew Golis summarizes the rest of the article: "In particular, Exley focuses on the teachings of Marshall Ganz. ... Ganz is unquestionably the leader of this new contingent trying to change the party. I first met him when he trained the Dean Campaign's New Hampshire field staff on this new approach in 2003, and worked again with him when he advised the DNC's national field staff in 2004."

Posted by Conn Carroll at August 30, 2007 12:56 PM