It is way too early to predict whether the goodwill that the Obama administration has brought to the table will bear fruit in low- and middle-income communities, but the good feelings evident at the NCRC gathering have long been missing from scene.

Government efforts over the past 2 years have focused solely on the market and rescuing our financial services system. While I happen to be one of those community advocates who think letting the banks fail was not an option, I believe strongly that letting homeowners fail was also not an option.

But fail they have, by the millions, with 10-13 million more households in jeopardy, further insuring a worsening recession for our nations future.