Ensuring Financial Opportunity and Fairness

When Congress passed harsh Bankruptcy 'Reform' in 2005, it left working families, children, and widows to deal with the worst practices of credit card companies and predatory lenders. We need a President who will be on the side of hardworking Americans facing foreclosures and financial disaster, not the financial industry. If quick action is not taken on all of these issues, then the entire American economy risks sinking into a recession based on foreclosures and bad debt.

Unfortunately, Congress seems content to sit and watch the problem. Good pieces of legislation that address these issues have been introduced, but they remain stalled, as Washington gridlock ensures that the game remains rigged against hardworking Americans who believe in the core values of accountability and individual responsibility. I am committed to supporting policies that protect consumers and ensure that everyone has the chance to achieve the American dream.

A Record of Fighting for Homeowners and Borrowers

I am proud of my record of standing up to protect homeowners and borrowers. I took action back in 2003, and because of this, New Mexico is not suffering from a housing or credit crisis today. In fact, New Mexico's foreclosure rates are far, far lower than all of its neighbors. The Center for Responsible Lending even has identified New Mexico as one of the six states with the "strongest laws" on homeownership protection and cited that its predatory lending laws could serve as a successful model for the rest of the nation.

I also worked hard to get tough anti-predatory lending laws on the books, and today New Mexicans are protected from lending practices that are not fair, honest, and transparent.

Keeping our Economy Strong

The mortgage crisis will not affect only homeowners. It has seeped into the broader economy, freezing up liquidity and shattering consumer and investor confidence. Indeed, we are in danger of slipping into a recession in the coming months. I will act aggressively to prevent this by taking several actions, including freezing adjustable-rate mortgages at their current levels, reforming bankruptcy laws to allow for the restructuring of primary-residency mortgages in bankruptcy, and working to keep our neighborhoods responsibly maintained and protected, even when there are foreclosures.

The Right Direction Going Forward

Unlike the way that some would spin it, the real problem that led to the current crises in the mortgage and credit industries is not that too many Americans were trying to make a fast buck by skirting the rules. The real problem is that the rules are skewed to punish those who played by them and to reward unscrupulous lenders. The rules, then, need to be changed.

I will accomplish this by insisting on transparency in these industries and by putting up firewalls that will end the sweetheart deals between credit-rating agencies and the companies that they rate. I also will create a Financial Product Safety Commission to review new financial products for consumer safety, just as we do for drugs, toys, and other products. This Commission's loyalties will be to consumers, not to big banks and other financial institutions.

The Bottom Line

Almost five years ago, we saw that the rules were wrong. We saw that they protected big lenders, not the big dreams of hardworking Americans. We saw that they promoted unfair practices. So I did something about it in New Mexico. With your support, we can do the same for all of America.