The NY Times looks at how House Republicans want Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-Brooklyn)-House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform chair—to subpoena details about Countrywide Mortgage's VIP program, which gives breaks prominent people, including (allegedly) Towns. Towns' spokeswoman calls it a smear campaign, "He went to his local mortgage guy and got a normal mortgage. The guy’s from Brooklyn and doesn’t have much money and wasn’t prominent enough to be considered a V.I.P. Whether it was later transferred through the V.I.P. program, I don’t know. But he didn’t receive any favors."