Two headlines. Different newspapers, same day.

New York Times:

Upbeat Republicans Revive Bush Theme of Compassion

Facing perhaps three times the television audience that saw its sharp-edged speakers on Monday, the Republican National Convention circled back last night to President Bush's winning 2000 campaign theme of "compassionate conservatism," portraying him as not only hardheaded but also bighearted ...

Boston Globe:

U.S. Plans to Slash Many Rent Vouchers

The federal government is poised to dramatically reduce the value of publicly-funded housing vouchers in Boston and other Massachusetts cities, a move that would force many low-income families out of their apartments and might prompt some landlords to withdraw from the program.

In a state already starved for affordable housing, the prospect of federal payments dropping by as much as a third has united housing advocates, landlords, and city and state officials, all of whom are planning to petition the US Department of Housing and Urban Development to scrap the change. In Boston alone, there are 9,000 households using the federal vouchers to pay part of their rent.

Oh, well. Partisanship does play a role; Massachusetts can't expect too many favors from Republicans. It might make a difference if some of our high state officials were Republican.

Oh, wait...

More: Matt Yglesias skewers the Republican alternative housing program: "George P. is up bragging about some bill that made it easier for people who can't afford a downpayment to buy a home. This sounds like the sort of thing that would attract strong bipartisan support. It also seems like a pretty bad idea. How many initiatives do we need to encourage bad credit risks to buy homes with borrowed money in an already-overheated property market?"