OBAMA TALKS HOUSING POLICY

SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- Obama hit the twin themes of mortgage fraud and special interests at a roundtable in San Antonio, at an event intended to make a play for working class and Latino voters.

Both Obama and Clinton released statements on mortgage fraud today, and Obama in his prepared remarks criticized Clinton's plans to freeze the monthly rate on existing adjustable mortgage rate for at least five years to help families hit by the crisis.

The Obama housing roundtable was part of a ramped up effort by the campaign to focus more on bread-and-butter issues. The roundtables, which have been a part of the campaign since Iowa, have increased in quantity, with the campaign usually holding at least two per week now as the try to increase their appeal and get an economic message out to working class voters. 

"Senator Clinton's plan to freeze mortgage rates is not sufficiently targeted to struggling families who need help and would actually put more families at risk,” Obama’s statement reads. “In fact, one economic analyst called her plan 'disastrous.'"

Striking a populist tone, Obama said the cause of the subprime crisis was due to special interests in Washington and corporate greed. "The CEO of the largest subprime lender was promised $100 million severance package," Obama said.

He told the 20 cameras assembled before him that he had been ahead on this issue, having introduced a bill to protect consumers last year. He also criticized the deal reached in the Senate to freeze some foreclosures, saying the 30-day period wasn't long enough.

Sitting at a table with a married couple, a woman and a representative from ACORN (a housing advocacy group), Obama showed his wonkier side, going into policies of how lenders defraud voters and how lending practices hurt the entire community by reducing the power of loans.

"We need leadership from Washington," Obama said in response to a representative from ACORN, who told Obama that families like the ones assembled at the table were ready to fight in Austin, Texas, for better laws in Texas, which has the 12th-highest home foreclosure rate.