THAT’S DEBATABLE:

An expanding chorus of state officials are calling for legislation to protect Californians from losing their homes as the subprime mortgage crisis deepens. Senate Democrats are poised to introduce bills requiring mortgage lenders to provide greater disclosure to borrowers about increases in monthly payments. Do you think state lawmakers should step in with solutions? If so, do you have any suggestions to help with the problem?

Elected officials must resist the temptation to use government power to intervene in the marketplace. Unscrupulous lenders and brokers who violate the law should be punished, but borrowers and lenders who followed the rules but made bad decisions should live with those decisions. Any government intervention that softens or delays the free market’s setting of new housing prices will only prolong the housing slump while exacerbating its impact on the rest of the economy.

Chuck DeVore

Assemblyman

(R-Newport Beach)

The dream of home ownership should be available to every American.

I am not sure, however, that we need a bureaucratic solution to the subprime mess.

It is a bit absurd to try to find a quick political fix for people who should not have bought houses they could not afford and for huge companies that should not have lent money recklessly.

If we are not careful, we will have the government, once again, punish those who work hard, save and live prudently. Sacramento needs to first deal with its own spending beyond its means and irresponsible loans.

The idea that bureaucracies can solve the subprime loan mess is one more example of Sacramento and Washington’s detachment from reality.

Van Tran

Assemblyman

(R-Costa Mesa)

While I am encouraged to see lenders in the private sector opting to voluntarily freeze rates, I am deeply concerned some proposals submitted by the liberal majority may be counterproductive.

The problems with the proliferation of subprime defaulted home loans must be studied and vetted before the potential merits of any legislation is debated and possibly acted upon.

We cannot afford to act in a knee-jerk manner that could ultimately undermine the free market from properly operating and punishing those who seek to achieve the dream of home ownership in the future.

Tom Harman

Senator

(R-Huntington Beach)