If you can , watch a replay of BarneyFrank on the
News Hour last night. I can't remember when I last saw
a politician so dominate an exchange.

The mortgage bill under discussion  is supposed to prevent 500,000 foreclosures at a cost of  $2.7 bn.

The republican argument against it was that it would cost
$300bn.  Frank pointed out the $300bn was the value of every house potentially subject to foreclosure which might be potentially eligible for assistance under the bill. .The market if you will. For it to actually cost $300bn................
o every one of those houses would have to actually need assistance ,and
o apply for it,and
o then default , and
o the house would have to be sold  for Zero.

Looking  truly disgusted ,he characterized this improbable scenario as the weakest argument he had ever heard.
Inexplicably the R essentially repeated it word for word giving Frank a chance to knock it out of the park for the second time..

George Soros labels Frank as one of the very few politicians who actually understands numbers. Certainly he was the only one on last night's program.

The R trotted out the ever popular  argument that the
government should not interfere but should let the market
establish the "true value" of those potentially defaulting homes. As Frank could have said , but didn't, it's the nature of markets to overshoot. So just as houses were overvalued during the bubble , absent any government intervention , they will be undervalued by the time the correction has played out. "True value" is a point that markets pass on en route to an untrue value.

Instead Frank made the also valid  argument that unusual  times require unusual measures. That apart from the benefit to the 500,000 families who will keep their homes, 500,000 communities will be spared the blight of an empty house  among other detriments further depressing real estate values .And the economy will benefit by bringing nearer the point at which the real estate market will sufficiently recover so that new home construction can resume with the attendant increase  in the market for appliances, furniture etc.

The R  fell back on claiming  that even at $2.7 insteadn of $300 bn it was an incorrect use of taxpayer funds.Frank compared it to the $30bn in those taxpayer funds used last week to rescue Bear Sterns..

The R said that that hadn't been done by Congress, it was done by the Fed. Frank said that it was done with full support from W's team

Apparently W. threatens to veto the bill.  First I hope he doesn't because it has the potential of protecting 500,000 families from the  desperate unhappiness of losing their home.  . But should he do so ,  it ought to be an election windfall  for the dems.

In any event , watch a replay if you can find one.