Home crisis deepens; responses gain traction

One of every four mortgages in the country is now "underwater" (meaning what 'homeowners' own is more debt to the banks than their homes are worth) as the bursting of the housing bubble made inevitable.

The big banks, of course, are resisting the fundamental restructuring of mortgage debt that is needed to stave off massive evictions, and government programs continue to fall far short of the need (an outright ban on evictions due to foreclosure, giving people the right to stay on paying fair rent, would be a cost-effective way to stabilize families and communities).

Under pressure from groups like NA4J, two progressive reforms, are picking up political support.

* A tax on financial transactions (sometimes called the "Tobin Tax" for economist James Tobin), which could finance a large scale federal jobs program, would slow down the speculative "casino" and put a share of the
cost of fixing the economy onto those that broke the economy in the first place. Several members of Congress and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown are now publicly advocating for this.

* "Too Big To Fail" is Too Big. Momentum is growing for proposals to break up the large financial institutions, to ensure that taxpayers won't be put on the hook next time their gambling goes bad.