There is a lot of discussion about what to do about the collapse of the housing bubble. This is something that was bound to happen eventually, the only question being the timing of when it would happen. Speculators were buying houses on the idea that the house could be sold to "a greater fool." This principle works for some people who are lucky enough to sell out at the right time. Politicians either don't understand how things work, or cynically pretend that they don't. Most Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, want some sort of bailout for home buyers who now owe more on their home than they can sell the home for. Hillary would like to have bankrupcy judges adjuct the interest rate for those home owners, probably one of the worst ideas in history. Part of the housing bubble was caused by lending practices, encouraged by the government, such as no money down, adjustable rate mortgages, interest only mortgages, and no credit check on the borrower. Democrats and some Republicans want to find a way to bailout the home owners who are in default (one third of whom are speculators rather than persons living in the home they bought). Such a bailout is, of course, a punishment for those people who were rational and responsible in their home purchase. I suppose the bailout is attractive to Democrats because they really don't like people who are rational and responsible. They like people who see themselves as, and make themselves victims.