Tough Job Selling Mortgage Bailout to Bill-Paying Public

President Obama may be facing a mutiny on his mortgage bailout plan. After CNBC reporter Rick Santelli’s on-air rant about the bailout "promoting bad behavior" by rewarding losers, Obama’s spokesman swatted the criticism away. But, Politico reports, public opinion is leaning in Santelli's direction—even 49% of Democrats oppose the proposal. Says one Maryland Obama voter, “’I’m not sure why we should work and pay for someone else to have a granite countertop or an extra bathroom.”

Obama allies respond that the plan is sound, and the public just has yet to learn of its virtues. Rep. Bruce Braley says the proposal goes “to great lengths” not to reward the irresponsible. “I just don’t think that that message has been said often enough and loud enough that people are starting to accept it as a justification of this plan.”
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