Fines for Lenders

Here's the Barack Obama Financial Times op-ed that got him criticized as FDResque in Forbes. The essence of the matter is that he's proposing "to establish a fund to help people refinance or sell to avoid foreclosure" and that "We can partially pay for this fund by imposing penalties on lenders that acted irresponsibly or committed fraud." A separate FT article covering the plan describes it as "among the most radical yet from a leading Democrat" but it sounds to me like understanding the real nature of this proposal would require us to see more details than seem available from scanning Obama's website.

This article available online at:

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2007/08/fines-for-lenders/46032/