With the Oregon Primary approaching, we talked with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton via satellite Tuesday afternoon, while she campaigns in Pennsylvania.

We asked the senator about some of the issues affecting us here in Oregon, focusing on funding for local counties. KVAL's David Walker asked Clinton via satellite hook-up, "Senator, the state of Oregon, like so many places in this country, is struggling economically. The Secure Rural Schools Act expired in 2006. How are Oregon counties going to deal with this loss of revenue do you think?"

Sen. Clinton explained, "I know it's a serious problem and your senators have certainly made that clear to all of us and we should work for a solution because Oregon, you know like so many western states, has a lot of challenges in the economy. The economy's changing and we've got to figure out how we're going to have the federal government do its part."

Walker also asked Clinton when she's coming to Oregon and what she will say to Oregonians to convince them 'she' is the candidate who would be the best nominee.

Clinton answered, "Well, I'm going to come to Oregon soon. We hope to be there in the next one to two weeks and I'm excited because I want to make my case to people of Oregon and I think that I have the ideas that will be, you know, well received there about what I would do. I'm looking forward to crisscrossing the state and making my case to you."

This week, Hillary Clinton is playing up her plan to deal with the nation's mortgage crisis, a plan which includes greater action from the federal government. Here are some of her ideas:

• Clinton proposes freezing all foreclosures for 90 days.


• She wants to set up an emergency expert group on foreclosures.


• The senator also wants a $30 billion fund set up for states and cities to buy foreclosed homes.


• Clinton says her package would also involve a form of "tort reform" to protect mortgage companies against lawsuits for restructuring loan terms.

During the satellite hook-up with KVAL, she elaborated on her plans.
"The federal government through the federal reserve, just made a decision to basically bail out Bear-Stearns to the tune of about $30 billion. But that's not all of the problem. We're going to have a projected 2.2 million households go into foreclosure this year as people continue to lose their homes, as more neighborhoods are left with vacant houses. We're not going to get a quick recovery like we should, so I support trying to come up with a public-private solution. Let private firms buy up some of these mortgages but the federal government could be a backstop to step in for those that haven't been bought up to give people a chance to stay in their homes and continue to afford reasonable interest rates," explained Sen. Clinton.