Foreclosure filings rose 42% between 2005 and 2006 in the U.S. The number of foreclosures this March, 2007, was 47% higher than the previous year. More and more individuals and families are being forced out of their homes by banks and lenders.

It's a sad tale--and each foreclosure case has a story, like the 86-year-old woman who was plyed with cookies and phone calls from mortgage brokers, then talked into a refinanced mortgage that cost her an extra $1000 per month. She can't meet her payments and when she goes to sleep, she thinks, "Maybe when I wake in the morning, they'll tell me to get out." And they will. Residents in 1.2 million homes filed for foreclosure in 2006.

On Tuesday, Common Cause will release the second in our "Ask Yourself Why" series of reports and we'll tell another side of this story: How the mortgage lending industry spent nearly $210 million on Washington lobbying and campaign contributions over the past seven years to block Congress from taking action to restrict lending abuses.

Why do the numbers keep rising?

The report shows how an issue that has caused great individual grief, as well as increased concern that this could undermine the housing market and harm the larger economy, has roots in one special interest--subprime lenders--pouring millions into Congressional coffers to block restrictions on their predatory practices.

The first report in this series took a hard look at the cable industry, in "Ask Yourself Why... Cable Rates Got So High." The "Ask Yourself Why" series highlights how the full public financing of Congressional campaigns would disarm the wealthy special interests and free lawmakers to make public policy beneficial to all Americans.

We'll have more early next week. Stay tuned.