New Obama strategy could lower mortgage costs

By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- The Obama administration will soon announce a new economic strategy that would lower mortgage costs and extend credit to small businesses, the President said in his weekly radio and Internet address on Saturday.

"Soon my Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, will announce a new strategy for reviving our financial system that gets credit flowing to businesses and families," President Obama said.

"We'll help lower mortgage costs and extend loans to small businesses so they can create jobs. We'll ensure that CEOs are not draining funds that should be advancing our recovery.
"And we will insist on unprecedented transparency, rigorous oversight, and clear accountability -- so taxpayers know how their money is being spent and whether it is achieving results." Read the full address.

While the financial rescue plan passed by Congress last year helped avoid a financial collapse, Obama said that "too often taxpayer dollars have been spent without transparency or accountability." He also charged that while banks have received help, others who need loans -- homeowners, students and small businesses -- have had to fend on their own.

This week, the House of Representatives passed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, a stimulus that includes a combination of tax cuts for families and investments in energy dependence and infrastructure. Obama said the stimulus will save or create more than 3 million jobs over the next few years, and urged the Senate to also pass the plan.

Obama noted that the economic slowdown has already cost the country tens of thousands of jobs in January. "And the picture is likely to get worse before it gets better," he said.
In his address, Obama said that no one bill can cure the economy's problems. As jobs are created, it is also necessary to make sure the markets are stable, credit is flowing and families can keep their homes, he said.