"Earlier in the day Lawrence Summers, President-elect Obama's incoming Director of the National Economic Council, sent a letter to the bipartisan leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives outlining in detail the President-elect's commitment to accountability and transparency in the use of these funds. The letter also pledged to use the money in a way that will help preserve home ownership, promote jobs and economic recovery, increase lending, promote the stability of the financial system, and safeguard taxpayer interests."

But do the details outlined in the letter have the force of law, or are they just more rhetoric that will be ignored by the Treasury when it actually uses the funds?  When you read the rest of the letter, you find there's nothing at all to directly aid homeowners in general, only a "commitment" to use funds to aggressively stop foreclosures as follows:

"Implement a sweeping foreclosure mitigation plan for responsible families including helping to reduce mortgage payments for economically stressed but responsible homeowners, reforming our bankruptcy laws, and strengthening existing housing initiatives like Hope for Homeowners."

Our reaction is that the focus remains on trying to bail out banks and other losers, including those in foreclosure, with nothing fair included for any other American who has lost so much as a result of the housing and credit crisis.  We should also note that recent reports of results of the Hope for Homeowners, which was was authorized by the Economic and Housing Recovery Act of 2008 and signed into law July 30, 2008, are not encouraging.  The plan provides an FHA guarantee for a modified mortgage at 90% of current LTV for a homeowner at risk of foreclousre, but it requires lenders to absorb losses on their loans.  Any second mortgage lender would be virtually wiped out under the plan.  Apparently homeowners aren't applying and lenders aren't much interested either.  See the HUD Fact Sheet about the program here http://www.hud.gov/hopeforhomeowners/pressfactsheet.cfm.

Are Americans really all that interested in "accountability and transparency" in government loans to businesses when they disagree with the entire approach?  Ordinary citizens seem to realize the unfairness and ineffectiveness of lending government funds to a select list of banks or homeowners in foreclousre.  Once again, we think most Americans will agree that the best solution to the multi-faceted economic crisis is a fair program, such as the AllStreets Bailout Plan, to offer federal loans directly to American homeowners, their lenders, and all other adult citizens.  Where are all the Democrats, includng the leadership, who were elected on stances of saving Main Street not Wall Street?  We haven't yet seen any proposals at all for legislation that does that.  So far they're just doing the bidding of Wall Street and the banking regulators, and proposing standard government tax and spending stimulus (long term programs) that don't address the near term housing, mortgage and credit crisis in any significant way.