A victory for the good guys

The Senate has rejected (the cloture vote failed) a desired Obama policy, that would change decades of tradition on how mortgages are treated in bankruptcy court.

Small banks and credit unions had opposed letting judges reduce a mortgage to reflect a home's market value -- known as a "cramdown" -- despite weeks of wooing by Democrats. Some opponents said they wanted to signal to Mr. Obama their dwindling tolerance for what they described as continued government intervention in private business, particularly businesses that didn't precipitate the nation's mortgage crisis. The measure failed a vote that would have moved it forward by 45-51.

Any time risk is added to a financial process, the cost is increased to reflect this risk. Had cramdown passed, the good people who pay their mortgages on time would end up paying more for their mortgages, and possibly faced tougher restrictions on getting mortgages in the first place. I could see required downpayments increasing, and banks loathe to lend in the face of rising real estate prices. That would be bad for anyone desiring to move to a place with a booming job market and improve their lot in life.