Look! This Campaign does have substance: Mortage/Housing crisis

On the housing crisis, Clinton offers a more drastic and broad moving proposal, but both devote a lot of resources to the issue.

To the ire of many, the focal point of Clinton's plan is a 90 day moratorium on foreclosures. The moratorium would keep borrowers un-homeless until the second part of Clinton's plan, a rate freeze on adjustable rate loans.

This freeze would last for at least five years, or until subprime loans could be converted to more "affordable" loans. Clinton will also require status reports on the progress that Wall Street is making in converting subprime loans into affordable ones.

Obama's plan is anchored by what he calls a Foreclosure Prevention Fund, a $10 billion fund that will help, well, let's just say it's name is not very original. Under his plan, borrowers facing foreclosure would be allowed to refinance their loans through either the Federal Housing Authority or government-sponsored-mortgage-giants Freddie Mac and Fanny Mae.

Obama's fund would also help home owners who bought houses they can not afford sell those houses - basically, assistance for people who made bad choices. The specifics include, providing additional time and assistance to borrowers in order to help them pay back any losses from selling their home and the waiving of certain income taxes that result from borrowers selling their homes to avoid foreclosure.

Both candidates would also address bad guy lenders who, like Dan Aykroyd circa-1977, blatantly covered up the true danger of the product they were pushing. Sitting with a Consumer Reporter (Candice Bergen), toy salesmen, and all around sleaze, Irwin Mainway (Akyroyd) explains that his company's toy, Mainway's Bag O'glass, is nothing more than "an interesting toy, you know?" With the type of greasy arrogance that made Mainway an SNL favorite, mortgage brokers gave dangerous, Bag O'Glass, loans to borrowers - all the while promising, they're nothing more than interesting loans, you know?

Under Obama's STOP FRAUD Act, new penalties for Mainway-lenders found guilty of fraud would be enacted, and the Government Accountability Office would be required to monitor some state lending programs in a effort to find, and get rid of, programs that are unfair to borrowers.

Clinton combats predatory lenders through transparency. Her plan would require mortgage brokers to tell borrowers that their compensation rises are tied to the level of mortgage rates and fees. In other words, the higher the rates and fees, the more money the borrower pockets. She also wants to create a federal registry of mortgage brokers, so borrowers can easily look up violations or complaints levied against a broker. Currently there is no centralized way to look up such information.

Clinton would give a boost to local housing trust funds, under her plan she would create a $1 billion fund to give federal support to local housing trust funds, eliminate pre-payment penalties and require that lenders disclose the taxes and insurance costs when going over the loan with a borrower. Currently, lenders can exclude these 'hidden costs' from the underwriting assessment, thus they are able to qualify people for mortgages they can not afford.

Obama's plan would create a universal 10 percent universal mortgage credit and create the HOME score, an easy to understand rubric that would help borrowers compare prices and understand the full cost of a loan.