Although Bertha Miranda’s Restaurant was packed with supporters of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Saturday, many undecided voters were among the standing-room-only crowd. With the Nevada caucuses a week away, Cheryl Goodson was still checking out the candidates.

“I want to know what she plans to do about the war, how to improve America’s image around the world, and how she plans to fix the economy,” Goodson said. She also said she wanted to know how Clinton was going to create more jobs in Nevada, how she was going to prevent people from losing their homes and how she was going to create a living wage.

Clinton addressed some of Goodson’s concerns, dedicating most of her time to the economy but not giving much time to such issues as education, the environment and the Iraq war. Clinton concentrated on the problems faced by the growing number of people losing their homes and struggling to retain a middle-class lifestyle.

In her opening comments preceding a roundtable discussion focusing on housing issues, Clinton said she was prepared to be the next president who will “face the great challenges here and abroad.”

"We know we’re going to have to end the war in Iraq,” she said, and also “handle the economic challenges our country faces.”

This included, she said, the high unemployment rate and, in Nevada, “casino workers who have lost their jobs.”

Clinton reminded the crowd that Nevada has the highest rate of home foreclosures in the country.

“People lose their homes and have nowhere to go,” she said. Part of this she blamed on “fraudulent … predatory practices” of lenders who put people in mortgages they are not suited for.

People lose their homes, the neighborhood deteriorates, people don’t pay property taxes because they have lost their homes and the situation continues to spiral downwards, she said. Adding to this, the value of homes in Nevada is going down twice as fast as those nationwide. HUD funding has been cut by 80 percent and Clinton blamed President Bush for not taking action.

Clinton said Bush is doing little to help most homeowners who cannot make their mortgage payments, are trapped in agreements signed with predatory lenders, and cannot even sell their homes. Bush’s plan is “too little, too late,” she said. It is “basically writing off anyone in trouble.” She said 90 percent of homeowners needing help are not eligible for any assistance under Bush’s plan.

Clinton said her solution includes a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures, a five-year freeze on interest rates and pumping more money into the economy. Getting the middle class back to work is key to a solution to the economic crisis, as they will then have more spending power to boost the economy.

Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller, a roundtable participant, said his office is seeing lots of people with mortgage and foreclose problems caused by fraud. He said the federal government must do more to help states prosecute predatory lenders.

Clinton said she would work to restore a balanced budget, make Social Security solvent, encourage investments in clean, renewable energy, give tax relief to middle-class families and increase the earned income tax credit.

Patricia Gehr, another participant, asked Clinton to speak more about her plans to end the war. She asked why there hasn’t been effort to impeach President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

“We have lost so much of our resources and … faith in government, and the respect of other nations,” she said.

Clinton replied by saying that the frustration felt by Americans is echoed in Congress but she did not elaborate on her plan to end the war.

Clinton touched on her plans to help all Americans gain access to health care coverage, saying she wants to open up the health care plan available to Congress to all Americans, expand Medicaid, help small businesses provide health insurance to their employees and offer tax credits to help people with medical costs.

Clinton said she would regulate the insurance companies so they have to provide for everyone, and could not refuse coverage for pre-existing conditions.

Answering questions pertaining to the funding of her campaign, Clinton said to “look at the record and see the changes we have made.” She accused Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign of taking money from companies run by lobbyists.

In the end, Clinton, said it was all about giving “everyone a chance to live up to their God-given potential.”