Dems Pitch Own Mortgage Plans

Democratic candidates are criticizing President Bush's plan to bail out homeowners in the subprime mess for not going far enough and have outlined their own, more ambitious, proposals, the New York Times reports. "It appears that the president is pushing a freeze for a very narrow group of borrowers,” said Hillary Clinton, who traveled to Wall Street to push for fixes. Bush will formally introduce his plan today.

Clinton yesterday called for at least a five-year freeze on rates and a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures. John Edwards called for a seven-year freeze and a fund to help borrowers. Barack Obama's proposal in September called for a similar fund. Bush reached a deal with the mortgage industry yesterday for a five-year freeze, but his measure would exclude many homeowners hit by the crunch. (More Hillary Clinton stories.)