WASHINGTON — The Senate is currently debating housing legislation, with several amendments to the base package under discussion. Senator Durbin's (D-Il.) amendment to allow bankruptcy judges to amend mortgage terms was introduced and four Republicans, including Sam Brownback of Kansas spoke against it.

"This amendment would introduce too much risk into the marketplace," said Brownback. "It could cause mortgage interest rates to rise as much as 1%-2%. It will do harm." Senator Durbin responded that the amendment had been narrowed to only include loans that were subprime and only for primary residences, not second homes or speculative real estate. Later, Majority Leader Harry Reid asked for a vote to be taken.

Senator Bernie Sanders offered an amendment to cap all interests rates, including mortgage rates, credit card rates and payday loan rates at 14%. Offering biblical references and classical references to usury, Sanders said, "The bible speaks of usury as sin and Dante reserved a special place in hell -the inner ring of the seventh circle- for usurers. It's an outrage for Americans to be paying rates as high as 21% to 40% when credit card companies reported $90.1 billion in interest income alone."