Clinton and Obama differ on freeze

A new Hillary Clinton ad highlights sharp differences between Obama and Clinton on gas taxes and housing.

"When the housing crisis broke, Hillary Clinton called for action -- a freeze on foreclosures. Barack Obama said no.

"Now, gas prices are skyrocketing, and she's ready to act again. Hillary's plan: Use the windfall profits of the oil companies to pay to suspend the gas tax this summer. Barack Obama says no, again."

We looked at Obama's position on a gas tax holiday previously. He does oppose it, calling it an expensive, short-term fix with little impact for consumers or national energy policy.

On housing, Clinton wants lenders to freeze foreclosures for 90 days on owner-occupied homes purchased with subprime mortgages. She wants lenders to freeze interest rates on subprime loans for owner-occupied homes for five years, or until homeowners can refinance. She wants to create a $30-billion fund for states to deal with the effects of foreclosures, everything from helping individual homeowners pay their bills to making up lost property tax revenues for police and firefighters.

Clinton believes lenders should voluntarily embrace the freezes she suggests as a means of preventing widespread defaults. She would not impose the freezes through the force of law.

Obama, on the other hand, opposes interest-rate freezes and a foreclosure freeze. He and his advisers have said that across-the-board freezes on foreclosures and interest rates are short-term fixes. The measures could end up doing more harm than good if lenders decide to raise interest rates on new homeowners to make up their losses, the campaign has said. He favors a $10 billion fund that would help homeowners avoid foreclosures. He also proposes reforms to bankruptcy court that would allow judges to modify mortgage terms.

Of course, Clinton's ad doesn't explain any of that. But it's not wrong when it says that Obama opposes the foreclosure freeze. We find her statement True.