Former Bush spokesman endorses Obama. Former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan, who angered many Republicans earlier this year with a memoir criticizing the Bush presidency, said on Thursday that he’s voting for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. McClellan told CNN that Obama’s message “is very similar to the one that Gov. Bush ran on in 2000,” apparently referring to the current president’s early pitch to reform government. “From the very beginning I have said I am going to support the candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington works and getting things done and I will be voting for Barack Obama,” McClellan said during the interview, which was taped for the Saturday broadcast of a new CNN show, “D.L. Hughley Breaks the News.” Meanwhile, The New York Times also gave Obama its backing. In an editorial, the Times wrote that Obama has “a cool head and sound judgment,” and “will forge a consensus” to get things done.

The feds consider guaranteeing mortgages.

The federal government may start guaranteeing home mortgages in a move to persuade lenders to ease the monthly financial burden on struggling homeowners, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila C. Bair said Thursday. The proposal, presented to the Senate Banking Committee, represents the most detailed idea yet on how the $700 billion federal rescue package might directly ease the growing bout of foreclosures sweeping the nation. While the federal government has adopted a series of unprecedented measures in recent months to guarantee the investments and transactions of financial firms, the FDIC’s proposal would vastly expand the role of the Treasury in standing behind the mortgages of struggling borrowers, reports The Washington Post. The plan, which is winning support in the U.S. Senate, comes as demands grow on Capitol Hill for an ambitious initiative to help distressed homeowners, whose mounting mortgage losses are at the heart of the nation’s current financial crisis. Citing the mortgage troubles of their constituents, some members of the Senate Banking Committee that held hearings on the crisis this week repeatedly complained that the administration has overlooked homeowners while placing emphasis on helping banks. The first $350 billion of the rescue package has been allocated to aid banks, not homeowners. Under the current proposal, a lender would get a government guarantee that troubled loans would be repaid. In exchange, the lender would be required to significantly drop the interest rate, reduce the principal or extend the life of the affected loans.

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