You have to wonder how United States Representative Melissa Bean reacts as she gets attacked from the left and the right.

Bean’s main solace is probably that the print media doesn’t pick up on most of what Democratic Party challenger Randi Scheurer dishes out.

Today Scheurer takes Bean to task for siding with mortgage companies over homeowners in trouble with their home loans.

Since President George Bush is reportedly putting together some relief package which lenders will voluntarily agree to, Bean’s position could be precarious.

But, it will probably result in campaign contributions.

Here is Scherer’s press release:

Scheurer Tells Bean: “Free The Homeowners!”

To grant relief for homeowners struggling to cope with the housing meltdown – caused largely by greedy lenders pushing abusive “subprime” mortgage rates – there is a bill pending in Congress (HR 3609) that would help people trapped in high-interest loans to stay in their homes and avoid foreclosure.

Sounds like a good idea, right? What with the holidays coming and all. Surely, something you would expect a Democrat to support?

That is unless it is a “Blue Dog” (a.k.a. “Bush Dog”) Democrat like Melissa Bean (IL-8TH District), who is being challenged in the primary by the progressive Democrat Randi Scheurer.

Bean is one of sixteen members of the Democratic “Blue Dog Coalition” who signed a letter urging Congressional leadership to kill this relief measure.

Their letter said that the government should “continue to monitor how the new (bankruptcy) law is working” before amending it to help homeowners.

“This is the same ‘wait and see’ approach that she (Bean) takes with Iraq,” says Scheurer. “How long does she have to wait to see the disaster? Local food pantries now serve 400 families, up 35%.”

Meanwhile, the law – which these same Blue Dog Democrats helped to pass – is working just fine for millionaires with vacation homes and investment properties.

“It allows them to rework their loans in bankruptcy and keep their properties,” says Scheurer, “while regular working families are enslaved to a mortgage that is now higher than the value of the house.”

By voting with the Bush administration on key issues – like the Iraq war, tax breaks for the wealthy, corporate trade deals, subsidies for big oil, and other giveaways – this little-known group of Blue Dog Democrats has maintained a narrow virtual majority for the Republicans, despite the fact that voters gave the Democrats a majority on paper in the 2006 elections.

“These ‘Republican-Lite’ representatives are frustrating the will of the voters,” says Scheurer. “We will not see real change on the big issues until we replace them all with real Democrats.”