Obama housing plan missing one big item

Nowhere in President Barack Obama’s three-pronged housing-homeowner bailout plan is there any indication his administration plans to even attempt a differentiation between people, especially first-time homeowners, who were buying an actual house for themselves, at the size they needed, versus second-time homeowners buying McMansions, speculative/investment buyers, etc.

Now, tis true, Obama made this claim:

“It will not help speculators who took risky bets on a rising market and bought homes not to live in but to sell,” he said, adding, “And it will not reward folks who bought homes they knew from the beginning they would never be able to afford.”

But, nowhere in the plan is there any indication that, when his administration presents a request to Congress to enact necessarily legislation, he actually wants the power to do that.

And, per Dave Leonhardt, it’s unclear just how much jump-start help this will offer. But, a bigger plan might cost more than it’s worth.