NDN's "Keep People in Their Homes" Effort Gains Momentum

Nine days ago, Dr. Rob Shapiro, Chair of NDN's Globalization Initiative, and NDN President Simon Rosenberg launched a "Keep People in Their Homes" effort to ensure that any proposal to put our financial markets and economy back on track include provisions to do just that. 

This strategy is now one of the core points of the Obama plan. Yesterday, Senator Hillary Clinton embraced the idea in a powerful op-ed, "Let's Keep People in Their Homes," in the Wall Street Journal. Today, the New York Times embraced it in its lead editorial, "What About the Rest of Us?"

On Tuesday of this week, Rob and Simon released a more detailed essay, entitled, "Keep People in Their Homes." On Wednesday, Rob wrote an important piece, "Back to the Basics: The Treasury Plan Won't Work." Rob's arguments from that essay received excellent coverage today in an insightful Wall Street Journal article, "Bailout Proposal Gets Hung Up Over Central Issue: Will It Work?" by Deborah Solomon and colleagues. Also today, NDN Fellow and Green Project Director Michael Moynihan argued in his essay, "Notes on the Financial Crisis," that the Administration needs to stop using panic as a negotiating tactic in an effort to reach an agreement.

I encourage you to read the Obama statement, Senator Clinton's op-ed and the New York Times editorial above.

NDN's argument is simple: among all the things the government can do to address the financial crisis, there is at least one thing it must do -- keep people in their homes. Keeping people in their homes will help stabilize the declining assets that are causing the current financial market collapse. We must drastically reduce the foreclosures that have destablized  the housing market underneath all the leveraged debt that is weakening our financial markets. Unless we do so, those markets will continue to weaken, even with a $700 billion bailout. And homeowners will continue to lose their homes. 

Passing an economic rescue plan that does not directly address declining home prices by helping people keep their homes is a risk too great for the American people to take. 

That's why we are asking today for you to do more than just read our e-mails. We are asking you to take action. We are asking you to call or e-mail your Senators and House Members, regardless of party, and insist that this provision be in any final economic plan. If you know Members of Congress outside of your state, call or e-mail them as well. 

While it is critical for Washington to act this week, it is more important that we do the right thing rather than the expedient thing. We cannot accept any deal that doesn't address the struggles of everyday people, particularly a deal crafted by an Administration that has gotten so little right these last 7 1/2 years. Please join us and make sure our elected officials do what they need to do in these next few days. The stakes are too great for us to get this one wrong.