By Kimberly Chin

The top campaign issue concerning the 2008 Democratic presidential candidates has moved toward American’s wallets — a significant contrast from recent months, when the top campaign issue was the war in Iraq.

But the issue is not seeing much coverage in the campaign context, instead being overshadowed by the personal battles between two of the front-running candidates. Sens. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) have recently announced aggressive economic plans that have specific focus on the subprime mortgage and credit crises inflicting the economy.

The subprime mortgage crisis, resulting from lenders creating special programs to loan money to borrowers with bad credit knowing they could not pay it back, has caused many middle- and low-income families to foreclose on their homes because they are unable to make the payments. Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) was the first major Democratic presidential candidate to announce an economic stimulus plan in late December. It called for an immediate $25 billion in aid for job creation and other projects.

Clinton announced an economic stimulus plan Friday, Jan. 11. She called for the Senate to draw up $70 billion in emergency funds for housing, energy and unemployment assistance. Clinton’s plan calls for the establishment of a $30 billion Emergency Housing Crisis Fund which would help alleviate the devastating effects of the subprime crisis. She also announced a 90-day moratorium, or suspension of activity, on foreclosure activity, as well as a freezing the rate on subprime mortgages for the next five years. The other $40 billion she expected to give to needy families in a form of a tax-rebate for energy assistance and unemployment insurance. This assistance would target “hardworking families which are most likely to spend new resources” which she believes will help “jump-start the economy.” Addressing a crowd in Nevada Sunday, Jan. 13, Sen. Obama announced an economic plan that would “crack down on unscrupulous lenders, give consumers the information they need to protect them against abusive lending, and provide a tax credit to 10 million homeowners,” according to a press release. His plan would total $75 billion in tax cuts and assistance to middle- and low-income workers and families. Adding the word immediate to the mix, he specified a $250 tax cut per person, $250 as a temporary bonus to senior citizens receiving social security checks. If the economy continues to worsen, as a press release states, then Obama will give workers and seniors an additional $250 tax cut. Obama’s plan struck a similar note as Clinton’s proposal, similarly addressing the housing crisis as the forefront of their plan to “revitalize the economy.” “Economists and politicians are finally waking up to what many of America’s families already know: that we might be sliding into a recession,” said Clinton in a press release on her campaign Web site.