A Subprime Katrina?

From the Financial Times:

Democrats call for mortgage ‘tsar’

Democratic leaders in the US Congress called on Wednesday for the appointment of a “mortgage tsar” to co-ordinate government response to the home loan crisis.

Harry Reid, Senate majority leader, and Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the House of Representatives, called for $200m in fresh federal funding to help distressed borrowers avoid foreclosure. The cost would be less than the daily bill for the Iraq war.

Democrats likened the pending wave of evictions to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and invoked the Bush administration’s handling of that crisis, which was heavily criticised as poorly co-ordinated.
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“This crisis is the equivalent of a slow-motion, 50-state Katrina, taking people’s homes one-by-one, deva­stating their lives and destroying their communities,” Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Senate banking committee, said at a joint press conference.
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The White House immediately rejected the proposal.

“We have a housing tsar, his name is Alphonso Jackson. He’s the secretary of housing and urban development.” a spokesperson said.

Spencer Bachus, Republican representative called on Democrats to “stop having press conferences” and be more bipartisan in their approach to the issue.