Clinton releases a plan to protect service men from mortgage crisis; Clinton, McCain support plan to suspend federal excise on gasoline in the travel season, Obama opposes the proposal; Obama breaks his relationship with pastor Jeremy Wright
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  • Senator Hillary Clinton released a plan to protect service men from foreclosures and help them achieve the security of stable, affordable, fixed-rate mortgages. Her plan includes the call to enforce an absolute moratorium on foreclosures while service members are on overseas combat tours of duty and also has provisions to improve foreclosure protections for veterans who were returning home1.

    Clinton also attempted to reinforce her position in contrast to her Democratic rival Senator Barack Obama in appealing to the middle-class families and the older Americans. She accused Obama of being out of touch with ordinary Americans who were struggling to meet their mortgages and pay for their energy bills. Along with Sen. McCain, she endorsed a plan to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline (which was 18.4 cents a gallon) for the summer travel season. Obama on his part opposed the proposal and averred that it would not lead to any consumer saving or help in curtailing oil consumption or oil imports, a view which was shared by environmentalists and many independent energy analysts2.

    Mr. Obama also defended his support of secular and liberal values by breaking his relationship with his former pastor Jeremy Wright. Obama denounced remarks which Wright had made in a series of televised appearances during the week. Mr. Wright had suggested among other things that the United States was attacked because it had engaged in terrorism on other people and that the government was capable of having used the AIDS virus to commit genocide against minorities3.

    Clinton and Obama joined hands later in the week to endorse the anti-China trade legislation. Clinton signed up as a cosponsor of the Fair Currency Act on April 30, a bill intended to crack down on countries that manipulate their currencies in order to gain an edge in international trade, a step which Obama took on May 1. Both the candidates in the past had expressed the need to address the American fiscal deficit with China4.

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