...Jacob Hacker, a political scientist at the University of California Berkeley and author of “The Great Risk Shift,” said Democratic leaders have been frustrated by several factors since taking the majority of the House and Senate after the 2006 elections: comparatively thin majorities, especially in the Senate; their insistence on adhering to pay-as-you-go budget rules that often require tax increases to support any substantial new spending; and the fact that relief bills such as the housing measure are limited in scope and largely throw money at a problem, instead of solving it.

“If the major issue for middle-class Americans is the loss of overall value in their homes, helping people refinance and stay in their houses won’t fundamentally alter those concerns,” Hacker said. “You probably need to do more and create a new financial structure around housing because it’s so important to middle-class security, say by shoring up unemployment insurance and helping states deal with the effects of downturns...” LINK