The fresh air will do them some good…

The so-called Foreclosure Prevention Act:

The Senate on Thursday passed a bipartisan package of tax breaks and other steps designed to help businesses and homeowners weather the housing crisis. The measure passed by an impressive 84-12 vote, but even its supporters acknowledge it’s tilted too much in favor of businesses such as home builders and does little to help borrowers at risk of losing their homes. The plan combines large tax breaks for homebuilders and a $7,000 tax credit for people who buy foreclosed properties, as well as $4 billion in grants for communities to buy and fix up abandoned homes. [...] Democrats failed to win approval of ideas such as giving people threatened with losing their homes the right to seek more favorable loan terms from their lenders in bankruptcy courts. At the same time, a proposal to have the government back up refinanced loans for people facing foreclosure has yet to win GOP support. The White House opposes the plan but has not issued an explicit veto threat. It says parts of the legislation would make the problem worse by depressing some home values, and that the measure inappropriately uses taxpayer money to bail out lenders saddled with foreclosed houses.

Unless your name is Barry Stearns:

The U.S. treasury secretary, Henry Paulson, defended on Sunday the Federal Reserve’s decision to help rescue Bear Stearns, the teetering Wall Street investment bank. [...] The Fed, using a procedure from the Depression era of the 1930s, raced to the aid of Bear Stearns on Friday alongside JPMorgan Chase. Bear Stearns had made a fortune in mortgage-backed securities but faced a possible collapse after those investments soured. Wall Street plunged as fears spread about whether other big firms were in jeopardy. "When you go through a period like this," Paulson said, "policy makers need to balance various consequences."

Paulson to "deadbeats" : Drop dead. Get out.

I’m sure people who are facing foreclosure will be relieved to know that the government will be giving tax credits to the people who will be picking up their homes at auction and on the cheap.

Now that‘s the American Dream.