somebody should do what bill gross says

ohio had the 6th highest 2007 foreclosure rate in the country.* when that primary rolls around on march 4th, obama is going to have to have something to say about the housing market if he wants to compete. it would also be a great opportunity for him to introduce a policy initiative to answer the complaint that he is the feeling and hillary is the substance.

luckily, pimco's bill gross just wrote his monthly outlook column** on what to do in the wake of the housing crisis. it turns out that the guy who runs the biggest bond fund in the world supports a fair amount of government involvement in cleaning up this mess. i'm shocked that neither clinton nor obama have seized this opportunity.

because gross is a bond market god, his commentary (or, better, a more formal arrangement for him to endorse a specific proposal) would insulate a democratic candidate from being labeled as anti-free market.*** at the same time, the candidate would be supporting governmental avenue for refi-ing out of subprime loans at reasonable fixed rates, something that would resonate both with low income voters and with centrists who want to see structural action taken other than a bailout.

this idea also looks better to wall street than the "subprime rate freeze" idea that hillary espouses. the rate freeze might sound like a great idea, but in practice it's more like something putin or hugo chavez would come up with. "there was a signed contract in a free market, sure, but we decided after the fact that it was against the good of the people. viva la revolucion!"

*http://realestate.msn.com/Buying/Article2.aspx?cp-documentid=6119868
**http://www.pimco.com/LeftNav/Featured+Market+Commentary/IO/2008/IO+February+2008.htm
*** or at least, it should. but of course when pols propose taxing hedge fund managers as steeply as we tax wage earners, that's apparently anti-growth. why tax hedge fund managers at all? luckily nobody wants to tax them since they're contributing to dems too now.