In September, President Obama spoke with Texas Governor Rick Perry to discuss

the governor's request for Federal aid to help his state's firefighters. Congressional Republicans have obstructed Obama's jobs bill which would fund first responders. (White House photo)



In September, President Obama spoke with Texas Governor Rick Perry to discuss

the governor's request for Federal aid to help his state's firefighters. Congressional Republicans have obstructed Obama's jobs bill which would fund first responders. (White House photo)



With his jobs plan stymied in Congress by Republican opposition, President Obama on Monday will begin a series of executive-branch actions to confront housing, education and other economic problems over the coming months, heralded by a new mantra: “We can’t wait” for lawmakers to act. According to an administration official, Mr. Obama will kick off his new offensive in Las Vegas, ground zero of the housing bust, by promoting new rules for federally guaranteed mortgages so that more homeowners, those with little or no equity in their homes, can refinance and avert foreclosure. And Wednesday in Denver, the official said, Mr. Obama will announce policy changes to ease college graduates’ repayment of federal loans, seeking to alleviate the financial concerns of students considering college at a time when states are raising tuition.

So even as House and Senate Republicans sit on their hands, willfully sabotaging the economy in order to destroy the Obama presidency, President Obama will take whatever steps he can to strengthen the economy. Obviously, there's a limit to what he can do without congressional action, but short of a revelation on the part of Republicans, that's not going to happen, so this is pretty much the only thing President Obama can do until voters throw the Republicans out.

As Calmes reported, he'll be starting with housing issues in Las Vegas, the epicenter of the foreclosure crisis. AP elaborates:

An Obama administration official says President Barack Obama will announce new rules Monday to help homeowners with little or no equity in their homes refinance their mortgages to avoid foreclosures. The new program will apply to homeowners with federally guaranteed mortgages who are current on their payments. It cuts the cost of refinancing and removes caps for deeply underwater borrowers.

And while President Obama is doing what he can to boost consumer spending and put underwater homeowners on more secure financial grounds, don't forget what Mitt Romney is proposing for housing:

Don’t try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom, allow investors to buy up homes, put renters in them, fix the homes up, and let it turn around and come back up. The Obama administration has slow-walked the foreclosure processes that have long existed and as a result we still have a foreclosure overhang.

And he's supposedly the reasonable one. Insane.