Can Anyone Halt The Mortgage Meltdown?

Wall Street and Washington come together to help troubled mortgage borrowers. Too late?

Fifteen months into the worst credit crisis in decades, major banks
and the federal government are coming together on a solution for
struggling mortgage borrowers.

The goal is to hasten the process
for renegotiating hundreds of thousands of delinquent loans, either
those held by major banks or held by Fannie Mae
(nyse:
FNM -

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people
) and Freddie Mac
(nyse:
FRE -

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), the mortgage finance giants that faltered and were taken over by the government this summer.