Mar. 25, Feature - It's fair to say the economy continues to be an important issue to voters on the campaign trail. Looking at the next contest, the state of Pennsylvania has not been able to completely avoid the economic stumbles as the state has been undergoing a major transition in the their economy, from a goods based to a lower paying service based economy.

Hillary Clinton hoped to capitalize on that. In an address in Philadelphia, she updated her plan for the housing foreclosure crisis.

She noted her support of a plan offered by Congress that would give more power to the Federal Housing Administration to intervene and rework mortgages and allow them to auction off foreclosed homes at discount rates. It's goal is to avoid a continued stagnant market where no one sells because no one buys.

"A plan to help our families keep their home and help communities hard hit by the housing crisis. My plan starts with an aggressive new effort to help millions of at risk families restructure their mortgages and stay in their homes.

Of the tens of millions who have lost value in their homes, 8.8 million struggle with these mortgages under water. That is more than 10 percent of all home owners, the highest percentage since the great depression.

If home prices fall another 15 percent, one third of all home owners will find themselves in the same boat."

Barack Obama, last week, also noted his support for a similar plan.

But what is absent from both Obama's and Clinton's proposals are regulation of the financial markets. Both candidates support increasing penalties for rogue lenders, but Jared Bernstein, Economist with the Economic Policy Institute says their ideas of regulation don't go far enough. He describes one area where regulation is drastically needed.

"Some of these big shadow financial institutions, these are banks that play a large role in lending but they aren't commercial banks so their not regulated. And they've had very imbalanced portfolios, they've been lending thirty, thirty-two dollars for every dollar of capital that they have on hand.

And what you see happening, at a place like Bear Stearns for example, I'm sure there are other examples out there, is that when lenders start to get spooked, folks who have lent these folks a lot of money start to get spooked and nervous about the quality of their holdings, they make what's called margin calls. They call and say 'I want my money back,' and then you have a run on the bank, and a potential failure and the whole house of cards could start to fall."

Critics say lax oversight comes is contributed to the monetary influence of the industries to be regulated.

Both candidates receive top dollar from key industries. According to The Center for Responsive Politics Hillary Clinton has received 1.2 million dollars from the commercial banking industry, more than any other candidate, but following close behind is Barack Obama, with 1.1 million. Clinton has also received more than any other candidate in the real estate industry with 5.3 million. Obama collected 3 million dollars from them.

From the securities and investment industry, Hillary Clinton again comes out on top, receiving 6.3 million dollars. Obama is again close behind, with 6 million dollars.

Obama does not intentionally take money from registered lobbyists, but he does receive money from executives and employees in these crucial fields.

Republican John McCain, who is far behind in campaign contributions, also receives money from vested interests. He has offered few details but says reforms are necessary and tax payers dollars should not bail out the lenders.