Both campaigns say they believe the gap will narrow as Republicans increase their early voting efforts, but it also
reflects differences in the parties» get - out - the - vote operations.
This whiggish outlook — that government has responsibility for the morality of its youth because morality is necessarily
reflected in behavior — was not (and is not) just a partisan
difference, although then (as now) the viewpoint was stronger
in one political
party.
• Unlike
in the U.S., underwriting standards for qualifying mortgage borrowers
in Canada have been maintained at prudent levels resulting
in mortgage borrowers here being much more creditworthy; • Canadian mortgage lenders never offered low initial «teaser» rate mortgages that led to most of the difficulties for mortgage borrowers
in the U.S.; • Most mortgages
in Canada are held by their original lender, not packaged and sold to third
parties as is typical
in the U.S., and consequently, Canadian mortgage lenders have a vested interest
in ensuring that their mortgage borrowers are creditworthy and not likely to default; • Only 0.3 % of Canadian mortgages are
in arrears versus 4.5 %
in the U.S. and what even before the start of the U.S. housing meltdown two years ago was 2 %; • Canadians tend to pay down their mortgage faster than
in the U.S. where mortgage interest is deductible from taxes, which encourages U.S. homeowners to take equity out of their homes to finance other spending, a
difference that is
reflected in the fact that
in Canada mortgage debt accounts for just over 30 % of the value of homes, compared with 55 %
in the U.S.